Mark Romanek Explains Why He Bailed From “The Wolfman”: The Producers Were Idiots

Posted by Andrew ">Andrew at 4:36 pm on September 9, 2010

In a recent FirstShowing.net interview to promote his latest film “Never Let Me Go”, director Mark Romanek explains why he walked away from “The Wolfman” with only three weeks of pre-production left.

And then I got involved in The Wolfman which was exciting because I was going to work with Benicio Del Toro. And I wanted to reinvent that genre and make this dark, rich, intelligent Jungian kind of piece that I was hoping could totally work as populist entertainment and yet be legitimate, like be an intelligent film that might even be critically well-received. And I just could never get on the same page with the producers about what it should be. I think they were scared of doing it the way I was suggesting. There was so much money involved that I ultimately couldn’t convince them of my idea of the film.

Read more at FirstShowing.net — the bit about The Wolfman is roughly halfway down the page.

Mark’s comments are very much in line with what Rick Baker had to say about the producers meddling and waffling on the werewolf design. Mark’s a great director, but with such spineless people in charge, had he stayed on I doubt he could have done much better than Joe Johnston did. What a shame. If only Bill Carraro, Ryan Kavanaugh and Jon Mone had trusted the people they hired.

Posted in Film, Television & Music

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“Teen Wolf” pilot analysis & transformation photo

Posted by Andrew ">Andrew at 11:02 pm on September 7, 2010

This is a month old, but interesting nevertheless. TheTorchOnline.com has an in-depth analysis of the pilot of MTV’s “Teen Wolf” remake, including quotes from executive producer / writer Jeff Davis and lead actor Tyler Posey. There’s also a rather boring photo of Posey’s transformation. One of the most telling quotes is from Davis, regarding the design of the show’s werewolves. Apparently there will be three kinds of werewolves– Alpha, Beta and Omega, with the Alpha being the most monstrous and the Omega looking like a straight-up wolf. And what’s the driving force behind the werewolf designs?

“The way we like to put it is, the other werewolf shows and movies have werewolves you can pet,” Davis said. “We wanted to have one you could kiss.”

Oh super. I think MTV and werewolf fans like you and I have different ways of assessing a werewolf’s kissability.

Read the whole post for more information.

Hat tip: Jason

Posted in Film, Television & Music

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“The Howling” Werewolf, The Way You Want To See It

Posted by Andrew ">Andrew at 10:12 pm on

This is too cool to just post on Fuzzy Camera. Horror artist Dan Harding has evidently been commissioned to paint a new cover for the re-issue of The Howling (which I didn’t know was happening, but cool). This, my friends, is a werewolf. Brilliant work, Dan!

Hat tip: Viergacht

Posted in Artwork & Creative, Books & Comics

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I’d have gone with the Chicken Nugget Burger

Posted by Andrew ">Andrew at 10:58 am on September 4, 2010

I saw this German Burger King ad on The Red Project and loved it. Great character design, especially on the Wolf.

Hey, it’s Saturday morning.

Posted in Film, Television & Music, Pop Culture

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Arrow In The Head gives us a first look at a “Howling Reborn” werewolf

Posted by Andrew ">Andrew at 2:31 pm on September 2, 2010

Arrow In The Head is responsible for me fruitlessly using the “Sharpen” filter in Photoshop a whole lot this afternoon. They’ve got an exclusive first look at one of the werewolf designs being used in “The Howling Reborn” via a blurry photo from the set. I’m not sure who sent them the photo, but it came with this description:

The werewolf you see below is one of the henchmen werewolves. Flat snout. The head werewolves have the classic HOWLING sticking out snouts. I know you’re all better people for knowing this.

Conspicuously missing from that description is an explanation of the giant ears, the smaller-than-a-human’s nose and the Henry Rollins neck. Partial credit for originality and using practical effects instead of CG, but c’mon. Whoever approved the maquette for this design obviously look at it from the side.

Update: okay, it’s not as bad as that. I got carried away. There are definitely things I’d change about the design, but overall it’s pretty cool.

Hat-tip: @Karwood_Pub via @_Mjollnir_

Posted in Film, Television & Music, Special Effects & Props

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