Christopher Abbott to Replace Ryan Gosling as Lead in 'Wolf Man,' Leigh Whannell to Direct

by Darian Scalamoni

    It was back in 2020 that Ryan Gosling first began circling the re-imagined version of cult horror film, Wolf Man, with The Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance in talks to direct. Well, fast forward to December 2023 and the feature now has a new star and new filmmaker attached. According to an exclusive from THR, Christopher Abbott will now embody the titular character with Leigh Whannell directing the creature feature.

    Abbott, seen currently on screens with Yorgos Lanthimos' latest, Poor Things, gets his shot at leading a feature film where he'll play the main character, currently unnamed, who is bitten by a werewolf before embodying one himself with due to an ancient curse. The project is seemingly an important one for Universal, as well as Jason Blum's Blumhouse which is co-producing the pic that is currently dated for an October 25, 2024 release. With all that said, it appears that the pic will begin production sooner than later, though much of the film is set to rely on practical effects, similar to that of the original 1941 project that this movie is inspired by.

    Though I have always been a major fan of the underappreciated star-in-the-making that is Abbott, I think this is a project that if not well-executed, could not fare well for the young actor. Whannell, meanwhile, was a breakout director in his own right, for his original sci-fi flick Upgrade back in 2018. After that, Whannell wrote and directed 2020's The Invisible Man, another horror film reboot starring Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Aldis Hodge. Whannell was originally set to helm Wolf Man before the project moved to Cianfrance and now it's back under the direction of the former. He scripted the pic alongside Corbett Tuck, as well as the writing duo of Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo who most recently wrote Dumb Money.

    Abbott rose to prominence first with his role as Charlie Dattolo in HBO's Girls, an early series love-interest of Allison Williams' character, Marnie Michaels. Since then, Abbott has positioned himself as someone who juggles leading indie films, as well as appearing as a supporting player in other big budget films. In recent years, Abbott has starred and featured in films such as James White, Katie Says Goodbye, Sanctuary, Possessor, First Man, On the Count of Three and Poor Things. On the television side of things, he's appeared on shows such as The Crowded Room, Ramy, Catch-22 and The Sinner.

    With Wolf Man being Abbott's biggest potential blockbuster movie thus far, he's also set for his first role in a comic book film with 2024's Kraven the Hunter on the docket. He's also set to star in smaller dramas soon such as Swimming Home opposite Mackenzie Davis and Bring Them Down opposite Barry Keoghan.