Christopher Abbott Replacing Ryan Gosling to Star in ‘Wolf Man’ for Blumhouse, Universal (Exclusive)

Wolf Man has taken a new form.

Christopher Abbott, currently on screens with award season darling Poor Things, will star in Blumhouse and Universal Pictures’ werewolf thriller that is being directed by Invisible Man filmmaker Leigh Whannell.

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Additionally, the companies have set an Oct. 25, 2024 release date for the feature, meaning the project is now moving faster than a speeding silver bullet.

That’s a hair-raising development for the thriller, which for the past three-plus years had Ryan Gosling on board to star. And it marks a return to the Wolf Man director’s chair for Whannell, who was initially on board the creature feature but moved aside in 2021, with Gosling’s Place Beyond the Pines and Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance parachuting in.

Gosling and Cianfrance have both departed the project although Gosling will now receive an executive producer credit.

Plot details are being kept on the dark side of the moon but the mysterious story is now focused on a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator.

The script was written by Whannell and Corbett Tuck as well as Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, the latter the duo who penned the well-regarded comedic drama, Dumb Money.

Jason Blum is producing the film.

In addition to Gosling, Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner and Whannell are executive producing. Wolfman will be a Blumhouse and Motel Movies production.

For Whannell, Wolf Man will mark the second monster movie and fourth directing collaboration with Blumhouse, after 2020’s The Invisible Man, 2018’s Upgrade, and 2015’s Insidious: Chapter 3. The writer-director is repped by by CAA and Myman Greenspan.

Wolf Man could turn out to be the most mainstream project yet for Abbott, who has made name for himself starring in eclectic and unique indies over the years. The actor has appeared films ranging from Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene to Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor, notching up Indie Spirit and Golden Globe nominations.

This year, in addition to Poor Things, Abbott also appeared opposite Tom Holland in Apple’s The Crowded Room miniseries.

He is repped by WME, Entertainment 360, and Sloane Offer.

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