Tag: The Wolfman

Rick Baker’s Transformation Concept Art for The Wolfman

In the past, special effects legend Rick Baker has expressed a cetain reluctance about the use of computer-generated creature effects in film. Apparently this hasn’t stopped Rick from messing around with ZBrush, and he’s been sharing his progress and experiments over at the ZBrushCentral forum. Starting two weeks ago, he started posting concept art for The Wolfman. Judging from some of his back posts, these are probably proofs-of-concept instead of anything official, but it’s really exciting to see the different stages of the creative process getting posted to a forum by the artist. Amazing stuff!

Wolfman Concept 1Wolfman Concept 2Wolfman Concept 3Wolfman Concept 4Wolfman Concept 5Wolfman Concept 6


Rick Baker on “The Wolfman”

Crave Online has a two-page interview with Rick Baker, whose special effects genius brought us pretty much every fantastic silverscreen werewolf of the past 30 years. A lot of the interview is similar to ones conducted by MTV and ShockTilYouDrop back in August– Baker talks about how The Wolfman star Benicio del Toro already sort of looks like a werewolf, his rocky relationship with CG effects and his reasons for continuing to develop “old school” makeup and prosthetic techniques despite CG’s capabilites (hint: he says “I like making the sh*t.”).

What’s interesting are Baker’s comments on the challenges of making a dramatic transformation sequence out of a werewolf that’s relatively low-key compared to the ones in AWIL and The Howling.

I kind of said, “To be honest with you, I don’t know how we do this transformation. I don’t know how we make an American Werewolf in London kind of a thing out of this slight change.” His nose is only this much longer. His teeth grow and some things… he’s not a four-legged thing. His feet do get a little more doglike and the hands grow claws and stuff. There’s things we can do but also how do you do it and try to make it original. After Werewolf and the Howling movies, how many times can we see these stretchy faces and claws busting through and all that stuff.

Rick, I think I speak for werewolf fans everywhere when I say that the stretchy faces and claws busting through are exactly what we want… but if anyone can some up with something better, it’s you.

“The Wolfman” Officially Delayed

The rumours have been confirmed – the release of the increasingly-anticipated werewolf film remake “The Wolfman” has been delayed. Originally slated for an April 3 2009 release, we’ll now have to wait until November 6 2009 to watch Benicio del Toro wolf out. Variety says the delay “gives the film more of a high-profile release, as well as ample time for post-production”, which is certainly a positive outlook. It’s certainly a more appropriate time of the year for a horror / monster movie, but an extra seven months is a long time to dedicate to post-production.

“The Wolfman” Delayed Until Fall 2009?

Fangoria is reporting a rumour that The Wolfman’s release date is getting pushed from April 3rd 2009 to “sometime next fall”. No further details are given. Given that the film was already delayed after the departure of its original director, Mark Romanek, there might be something to this. If it’s true, it’s not great news, but if an extra six or seven months it what it takes to make this film shine, I’m willing to wait.

CHUD’s Jon Abrams Reviews The Wolfman

Jon Abrams, a man whose opinion on werewolves I have previously praised, recently posted a review of The Wolfman. This is the novel we’re talking about, not the film remake. The Wolfman first gained national attention earlier this year, when its author, Auxiliary Police Officer Nicholas T. Pekearo, was shot and killed by a suspect in March 2008. Now the book is generating buzz for a much happier reason: according to Jon Abrams and other reviewers, The Wolfman is really quite a good book. It’s a shame that the talent behind it isn’t still around to write more. I’ll be picking up a copy myself before Christmas– have any of you read it, and if so, what’d you think?

The Wolfman 7″ Action Figure

ArcLight just sent in word that Mezco Toyz is now taking preorders for a 7″ Wolfman action figure. For $18.00 US, you can secure a figure that has “intense film accurate detail, 12 points of articulation, and sculpted clothing”. It ships in April 2009, just in time for the realease of the film. I don’t know about you, but I’ve already placed a preorder for this sharp little guy, and I’m seriously considering the 12″ version as well.

Banners for The Wolfman

Ryan Rotten at ShockTillYouDrop.com has posted some photos he took of promotional banners for The Wolfman. The banners are up at Universal Studios Hollywood, and you can see them as part of the Terror Tram tour I mentioned a few days back. The banners are fairly teaser-ish, and the photos are blown out by the flash, but you can certainly see that some care has gone into promoting this film. I’m looking forward to seeing what sort of marketing campaign Universal puts together for The Wolfman as the release date (April 3rd 2009) draws closer.

See the banners here.

Danny Elfman To Score The Wolfman

Harry Knowles over at AICN reported yesterday that the score to The Wolfman will be composed by none other than Danny Elfman, whose numerous works include scores for Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and quite a few other films that have nothing to do with Tim Burton. Nothing else is known at this time, and Knowles didn’t cite any sources, but come on. It’s Harry Knowles. The guy probably knew before Elfman did. In any case, this is good news– Elfman really knows how to set the mood for a dark film like The Wolfman.

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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