Deadline is reporting that Universal's upcoming Wolfman reboot has found its director in Academy Award-nominee Derek Cianfrance, who is now set to reunite with his 2x Academy Award-nominated Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines star Ryan Gosling.
Cianfrance will also pen the script, with Gosling producing alongside Ken Kao and Jason Blum.
While a big studio movie like this doesn't seem like something Cianfrance would typically tackle, it sounds like Gosling's pitch really won him over. In his statement, he said;
“Horror movies were my first love — my entry into what cinema was capable of narratively, psychologically and aesthetically. Coupled with the opportunity to collaborate with Ryan again, this is truly a dream come true. I’m thrilled and inspired to work with the good folks at Blumhouse and Universal to bring this monster back to life in our collective unconscious.”
Aside from the basic werewolf premise, plot details remain under wraps for now, but the film was previously rumored to be a modern-day tale and was being described internally as something more akin to the Jake Gyllenhaal-fronted thriller Nightcrawler, albeit with a supernatural twist. Gosling would portray an anchorman who gets infected by the werewolf gene.
No potential production start date has been given, but this is the latest in a long line of projects Gosling has in the pipeline, including Phil Lord and Chris Miller's Project Hail Mary adaptation, Duke Johnson's The Actor, and Greta Gerwig's Barbie. He recently wrapped The Russo Brothers' The Gray Man for Netflix, where he stars opposite Chris Evans and Ana de Armas.
In addition to Wolfman, Universal is also actively developing Elizabeth Banks' The Invisible Woman, Karyn Kusama's Dracula, Dexter Fletcher's Renfield, and Paul Feig's Dark Army.