Farthing Film

Whilst the Wolfman update has done better than expected at the box office with a $32 million opening weekend, reviews have not been kind. Stories have abounded about this being a troubled shoot, with numerous writers, a last minute change of director and extensive reshoots, and many critics have claimed that this is clearly reflected in the final product.

Joe Johnson, who replaced Mark Romanek as director, has given an interview to Time Out magazine in which, whilst not expressing displeasure with the final result, he is unusually candid about the difficulties in bringing the film to the screen. Amongst his choice quotes:-

“One of the issues with the previous director was that he had said he needed another 20 days, [...] and that became one of the areas of disagreement that led to [the studio] looking for a new director.”

Johnson goes on to state that whilst he initially brought the film in on the timescale set out by the studio, this was at the expense of jettisoning several sequences for time and budget reasons, including "a much longer sequence at the end and one in London where the wolfman is loose"

After cutting the film together it became apparent that the film did not work without these sequences, necessitating five further weeks of reshoots and significant delays in the film's release.

Whilst this is only the latest in a number of tales of films which have gone wildly over time and budget as a result of creative disagreements and studio politics, unfortunately for Universal The Wolfman looks to be another Last Action Hero rather than the next Titanic.