X-Files Producer Shrugs Off Werewolves

iF Magazine has an exclusive interview with Frank Spotnitz, producer and co-scriptwriter for X-Files: I Want To Believe. If you’ll recall, there were whispers that I Want To Believe involved werewolves, and that one of the werewolves might have been Mulder. These (ultimately false) rumours were deliberately encouraged by the filmmakers via Photoshopped werewolf transformation makeup tests and on-set photos of werewolf props. In the interview, iF Magazine asks Spotnitz what the deal was.

iF: There was some kind of “wolf suit” photography that leaked to the Internet last year when you were filming. I’m assuming this was planted to throw people off the scent of what the movie was about?

SPOTNITZ: That’s right. We actually got the idea for the werewolf mislead because of an obscure post on Ain’t It Cool News. Someone had written that they’d met [director] Chris [Carter] in a bar and he’d told them the movie would be about werewolves. We decided to just keep feeding that storyline. We felt most people wouldn’t be too disappointed when the movie ended up not being about werewolves after all.

You were wrong, Franky. Wrong.

Twilight – Breaking Dawn

Breaking DawnOkay. I wasn’t going to say anything about this, but there’s just way too much fuss to ignore. Author Stephenie Meyer is writing a group of books referred to as the Twilight Saga, which follows the story of teenager Isabella Swan and her interactions with various vampires and werewolves, all of whom live in a small town in Washington state. There are four books in the series so far: Twilight (after which the series is named), New Moon, Eclipse and the recently-released Breaking Dawn. There has been a great deal of excitement surrounding the release of Breaking Dawn, on par with the debut of the Harry Potter novels.

I’ve never read them, but they’re apparently a really, really big deal. I’m something of a skeptic when it comes to teen romance/horror novels, especially those with dreamy vampires and conflicted werewolves, but with Breaking Dawn getting reviewed by every other blog, magazine and news web site out there, and a Twilight feature film in the works, I get the feeling it would be unwise to ignore the series because of a few old prejudices.

Wolfmen In The Closet: Fact or Fiction?

If you’re at all interested in video games, web comics, or things that are awesome, you’ll be familiar with Penny Arcade!, the ongoing adventures of two lovable, video game-obsessed misanthropes named Gabe and Tycho. Against all probability, Gabe and Tycho are fathers, and one of their recent comics addresses the tough decisions parents sometimes need to make in preparing their kids for the unknown. Specifically, the furred, fanged, closet-lurking unknown. This isn’t the first time werewolves have been referenced in Penny Arcade!, either– back in June, Tycho got caught up with some reading, and in February of 2007, there was some discussion about the myriad versions of Windows Vista out there. For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t run Vista even if there was a Wolfman Edition.

Wolfman Trailer Photos

Update: well. that didn’t take long! The Wolfman trailer posted here has been taken down by YouTube, undoubtedly thanks to Universal’s lawyer-squad. In case you missed it, here are a few choice images grabbed from the trailer:


Rick Baker Talks About Wolfman Makeup & Effects

Now that the SDCC Wolfman panel frenzy has tapered off a bit, I think it’s safe to talk about the recent interviews with Rick Baker. Baker, if you didn’t know, is the special effects guru who brought on the fur and claws in An American Werewolf in London, The Howling, Werewolf (the TV series), Wolf, Cursed, and most recently, the forthcoming Wolfman remake. Basically, if you need a werewolf designed for the screen, Baker’s your man. MTV Movies and the always-awesome shocktillyoudrop.com both recently spoke with Baker regarding his werewolf work on The Wolfman.

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We Are Scientists – “Impatience” Video

New York indie band We Are Scientists have recorded a song. That song is called Impatience, and comes from their album Brain Thrust Mastery. They have also made a video for this song, which I think you will like, because it contains a (mostly) friendly werewolf. These are the kinds of things I find for you, early in the morning, because it’s my calling. Enjoy.

Legendary Available for Preorder

This is a good week for preorders! If you’re interested in Legendary – The Game (formerly Legendary – The Box), it’s now available for preorder. If you’re interested in battling and, apparently, herding werewolves (among other supernatural creatures), you can pick it up from Amazon for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 or Windows (2000, XP or Vista). It ships November 4, 2008.

Audie & The Wolf – A Werewolf Movie in Reverse?

We all know how werewolves work. Take a human, and turn him (or her) into a wolf-like creature. But what if the reverse happened, and a wolf woke up one morning as an amnesiac human with a craving for lots and lots of flesh? It’s a concept that’s been tossed around before, but Audie & The Wolf, a film by Brooklyn Reptyle Productions, looks like a fresh take on the idea. Black humour, gore, a Satanist villain named Jim and a grinning reverse-werewolf with a chainsaw? Yes.

Watch the trailer below, visit the official web site, or check out the Fangoria interview with director Brian Scott O’Malley for more info and some exclusive photos.

Werewolf Painting up for UK Art Award

A painting featuring a werewolf is in the running for the John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize. Woman Surprised By Werewolf, a painting by Stuart Pearson Wright, is one of 40 paintings vying for the first prize of £25,000. As reported by guardian.co.uk, ArtDaily.org and Times Online, the painting was inspired by An American Werewolf in London. All 40 paintings will be exhibited at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool between September 20th and January 4th, and the winners will be announced the first day of the exhibition.

Preliminary sketches (NSFW warning for artistic nudity) for Woman Surprised By Werewolf can be found on Wright’s site.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans – Photos and Interview

Rhona Mitra in Underworld 3

FirstShowing.net has got some great photos of Rhona Mitra, the werewolf death-dealer in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. Sorry, no werewolf photos yet, but according to this MoviesOnline interview with director Patrick Tatopoulos, the film’ story is seen “from the eyes of the werewolf. We are not seeing it from the eyes of the vampires anymore.” Sounds promising!

Click the thumbnail to see the rest of the images, or here to read the interview with Tatopoulos. Thanks to ArcLight for the tip!