Joe Johnston’s The Wolfman starring Benicio Del Toro has had something of a troubled production - from original director Mark Romanek dropping out at the last minute to multiple release date changes.

However, as the November release date looms, more is becoming known about the film and by all accounts these details are helping to put fans fears to rest. Recent artwork online shows Rick Baker’s transformation make up for Del Toro and some reviews from early test screenings indicate that The Wolfman just might dodge that silver bullet after all.

Check out some of Rick Baker’s digital sculptures of Del Toro’s transformation below:

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Come on folks, you know the drill! It’s the Mid Week Movie News Wrap Up.

This week:

Affleck goes to Arizona, Warner Bros, figure out Beetle The Bard; The Wolfman howls at a different time; Keanu Reeves has 47 Ronin and own a piece of Hollywood - cheap!

Not too long after it was announced that Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer) was going to direct Marvel’s Avengers prequel, The First Avenger: Captain America, it looks like Marvel is taking the next logical step: Securing writers to pen the epic origin story of Steve Rogers.

The scribes currently in negotiations with Marvel Studios are none other than Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, both part of the writing team behind The Chronicles of Narnia films.

Is Captain America going to fantasy camp? Or does Marvel know something about these two guys that we have yet to perceive? Let’s talk about it!

It’s official, folks! Marvel Studios has put out a production update stating a director has been tapped to helm the upcoming corner-piece to Marvel’s Avengers puzzle, The First Avenger: Captain America. So, without further ado, the man bringing us the adventures of the Star-Spangled Avenger will be none other than:

Joe Johnston (???).

Danny Elfman, composer of all those famous TV/movie themes you didn’t even know came from one guy, (The Simpsons, Tim Burton’s Batman, Beetlejuice, Desperate Housewives???) will be handling the score for the upcoming remake of The Wolf Man, starring Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins and Hugo Weaving.

Hmmm. An Elfman score makes me think that this Wolf Man remake is going to end in failure like so many Wolf Men before it. Not saying there’s anything wrong with Elfman, per say, but for a Wolf Man movie?

Man, where does time go?

Hard to believe that The Dark Knight is now a distant memory (well, I can still hear the cash registers ringing).

It’s now time to look forward to a new batch of movies.  This week we have a horror remake bonanza featuring:

Leonardo DiCaprio entering The Twilight Zone, the return of Freddie Kruger in A Nightmare on Elm Street, MGM turn on the television and revisit Poltergeist and The Wolfman goes live.

Doug Nagy from TheMovieBlog.com, Alex Billington from Firstshowing.net and me with the three stars of Bitch Slap at the Wrath of Con party

Another day at Comic-Con, another sore rear end from the uncomfortable seats in Hall H…

Today’s events included watching the Season 3 premiere episode of Heroes, which was a huge unexpected bonus. It looks like the show is getting its mojo back and if you’re a fan you’re really going to like it when it returns this Fall.

Gotta tell you guys, we’re having a blast. Somehow this year I’m relaxing more yet getting more posts out about the goings-on here at Comic-Con. Here’s a bit of a wrap up of yesterday (since it’s 3AM and no longer Friday).

I’ve enjoyed seeing some of my online movie buds in person again. Nice to actually hang out instead of just exchanging emails, Twitters and IMs.

Rick Baker, Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro were in attendance to talk about The Wolfman remake.

The panel started out with just Rick Baker but then he introduced Emily and Benicio. The film is a Victorian-era period piece very much in line with the original film. Baker stated that he doesn’t usually actively pursue jobs but when he heard about this one he went out of his way to make sure he was the guy doing the makeup effects for the film.

When a film has a troubled production I rarely have any hope that it will be good. Think of The Avengers, Supernova and Cursed, all films that had problems during their production and all films that sucked. Big time. There are exceptions to this rule, but generally speaking a bad production means a bad movie.

When Mark Romanek left The Wolfman because of creative differences over the making of the film (the budget in particular) it looked like Universal’s chance of turning the old horror icon into a viable franchise for the 21st Century had bitten the silver bullet.

However, when journey man director Joe Johnston jumped on-board to steer the film through its choppy waters it looked like we might be in safe hands. Then the first official pictures of Benicio Del Toro in full Wolfman make-up appeared online it looked like we were on to a winner. Now Empire has an exclusive interview with Scott Stuber (great name), the producer of the film, detailing some plot points and some of the creative decisions that have been made on the film.

What he tells us is nothing short of great news.

I know that The Wolfman isn’t getting a lot of Screen Rant love. It should. Why?

Well, it is a remake of the 1941 Lon Chaney movie - which you should see!!!

It stars Benicio Del Torro and Anthony Hopkins.

It’s written by Andrew Kevin Walker of Seven fame.

The make up effects are by the genius that is Rick Baker

Finally, if you continue, you will see a freakin’ fantastic picture of The Wolfman in all his glory that has just been released by Entertainment Weekly!!

The first pictures of Benicio Del Torro as The Wolfman are now online, and they look, well… bloody!

This is good news. When I first heard that journeyman Joe Johnston was helming the horror I was afraid that the film would be family friendly (how much alliteration can you fit in one sentence?!).

This looks like the real deal.

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.

It must have been a busy week for the guys at Universal. When Mark Romanek dropped out of directing The Wolfman, it seemed that every unemployed director in Hollywood was approached to direct the feature, as staff scrambled around to stop the project from falling apart.

Everyone from the universally loathed Brett Ratner (geddit- universally) to fan favorite John Landis, director of An American Werewolf in London were mooted.

And the man who will end up with his name on the directors chair? Drum roll please… Jurassic Park III helmer Joe Johnston.

What an anti-climax.

When I wrote my first story on The Wolfman little did I know that it would consume most of my week. Since Mark Romanek quit the production it seems that every director in Hollywood has been mentioned in relation to the film.

What? You think that I’m kidding? Really? Want to see the list?

Okay, now deep breath. The list goes like this:

Brett Ratner, Frank Darabont, James Mangold, Breck Eisner, Matt Reeves, Joe Johnston, Martin Campbell and Bill Condon.

An interesting list and one that is sure cause a lot of fan discussion. However, it won’t cause as much excitement as a name that is being mentioned by Collider as a strong contender; John Landis.

Werewolf - There wolf!

Just a bit of Young Frankenstein to get the ball rolling!

The other day we posted that Mark Romanek had quit The Wolfman because he couldn’t make the film for under $100 million. The film is due to go into production soon, so there was a major scramble to find a director to replace him.

Then Quint at Aintitcool reported that the two contenders for taking over the helm were Breck Eisner (Sahara) and Cloverfield director Matt Reeves.

Now Aintitcool is reporting that fan favorite (cough, cough) Brett Ratner has taken over directing duties on the film.

For the last few years Universal Pictures have been raiding their vaults and trying to find different ways of revitalizing their old horror icons. We’ve had the Mummy movies (the third is out this year) and Van Helsing tried to merge Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wolfman, but the final product wasn’t a huge success (that’s a tiny understatement, but lets not get into that).

The latest feature in the pipeline is The Wolfman, which is about the, er… Wolfman. The film is due to star the powerhouse acting combo of Benicio Del Torro and Anthony Hopkins, with make-up by the legendary Rick Baker.

Until today the film was due to be directed by Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo), but now he has quit the project over the film’s budget.