Max Landis finishing first draft of An American Werewolf in London remake
Screenwriter Max Landis gave an update Monday on Twitter regarding his script for An American Werewolf in London, a remake of his father John Landis’ beloved 1981 horror-comedy.
“Finishing my first draft of An American Werewolf In London today,” the younger Landis tweeted. “Took me way longer than usual because every time I opened the Final Draft file my laptop would slam closed under the weight of my father’s expectations.”
The original film concerned a young American tourist (David Naughton) who is maimed by a werewolf on the moors of Yorkshire and subsequently falls for a London nurse (Jenny Agutter), unaware that he too will become a lycanthrope at the next full moon.
Landis’ tweets offered a hint at how he’s looking to put his own stamp on the story, when he responded to a question about the comparative ease with which the Yorkshire villagers in the original film kill the werewolf that infects Naughton’s character, and the possibility that the locals “knew the guy who was the wolf.”
“Answering this question and the nature of the village’s role in the plot in the second and third act as of now are the biggest changes I’ve made to the original structure,” Landis wrote.
Finishing my first draft of An American Werewolf In London today.
Took me way longer than usual because every time I opened the Final Draft file my laptop would slam closed under the weight of my father's expectations.— Leaf????OnTheStream????OfCreation???? (@Uptomyknees) December 11, 2017
Watched American Werewolf like a dozen times in the last two months and it's CRAZY how little happens in the movie. It's entirely linear. Pub > Attack > Dreams/Hospital > Ghost > Sex > Ghost > Werewolf > Freak Out > Ghost > Werewolf > The End.
— Leaf????OnTheStream????OfCreation???? (@Uptomyknees) December 11, 2017
Answering this question and the nature of the village's role in the plot in the second and third act as of now are the biggest changes I've made to the original structure.
I always wondered about that Pentagram. Doing some fun stuff. https://t.co/P8PCls3Gt2— Leaf????OnTheStream????OfCreation???? (@Uptomyknees) December 11, 2017
The news broke last year that Landis would write and direct a remake of his father’s film. His previous writing credits include Chronicle (2012), American Ultra (2015), Victor Frankenstein (2015), and the Will Smith-starring Bright, which premieres on Netflix later this month. Landis also wrote and directed the 2015 comedy Me Him Her and created the BBC America show Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, which concludes its second season Dec. 16.