Hugo Weaving Joins The Wolfman

It seems like only yesterday that The Wolfman looked to be in trouble. Mark Romanek quit when he realised that his vision couldn’t be met with a measly $100 million and for a brief moment in time it looked like Bret Ratner would helm the horror remake. However, nothing could stop Universal from bringing one of their most iconic characters into the 21st Century. Not even Van Helsing. Journeyman director Joe Johnston was hired to helm the project after the studio called up every director with a union card.

Hugo Weaving has now been cast as Detective Aberline, the detective hot on the tail of Benicio Del Toro’s Wolfman. Weaving has no experience what-so-ever when it comes to making big budget films, having starred in low budget efforts like The Matrix and Lord of The Rings.

The cast of the film also includes Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt.

Although this news isn’t the most exciting it does indicate the film hasn’t slowed pace and that it is still going before cameras next month.

New director Joe Johnston also seems to be keeping the up with the quality of Romanek’s casting. I just hope that Johnston is the right man for this movie, all his previous efforts are rather brightly shot Spielberg-lite efforts that show no indication that he could make a scary, dark horror with Andrew Kevin Walker’s script.

Also, as I write this I’ve realised that I make fun of Stephen Sommers’ Van Helsing a lot. It’s not that I have a massive grudge against it, it’s just that it was possibly the coolest concept for a movie, ever and the film was a mess of CGI.

I’ll keep you posted on further news.

The Wolfman is due to be released on February 13, 2009.

Source: Variety