The Wolf Man | |
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Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date | 1941–1948; 2010; 2025 |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Wolf Man is a horror film series centered on Larry Talbot, a man who upon being bitten by a werewolf becomes one himself, and his subsequent attempts to cure himself of his murderous condition. The film series was created by Curt Siodmak.
Number | Title | Release date | Director | Continuity |
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1 | The Wolf Man | December 12, 1941 | George Waggner | Universal Classic Monsters |
2 | Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man | March 5, 1943 | Roy William Neill | |
3 | House of Frankenstein | December 15, 1944 | Erle C. Kenton | |
4 | House of Dracula | December 7, 1945 | ||
5 | Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein | June 15, 1948 | Charles Barton | |
A | Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman | August 29, 2000 | Kathi Castillo | Stand-alone films |
6 | Van Helsing | May 7, 2004 | Stephen Sommers | |
B | House of the Wolf Man | October 1, 2009 | Eben McGarr | |
7 | The Wolfman | January 27, 2010 | Joe Johnston | Remake |
8 | Wolf Man | January 17, 2025 | Leigh Whannell | Reboot |
The original series of films consisted of five installments, all of which starred iconic horror actor Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot. The series of films is part of the larger Universal Classic Monsters series.
Year | Film | The Wolf Man actor |
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1941 | The Wolf Man | Lon Chaney Jr. |
1943 | Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man | |
1944 | House of Frankenstein | |
1945 | House of Dracula | |
1948 | Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein | |
In March 2006, Universal Pictures announced the remake of The Wolf Man with Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro, a huge fan of the original and collector of Wolf Man memorabilia, in the lead role, who was "cast for his resemblance to Lon Chaney Jr., with his clouded, thick features and his air of suffering". Lawrence is depicted as an "Anglo-Indian, which explains his complexion, and the film notes that he was educated in America, to explain his accent". [1] [2] [3] Screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker was attached to the screenplay, developing the original film's story to include additional characters as well as plot points that would take advantage of modern visual effects. [4] Del Toro also looked towards Werewolf of London and The Curse of the Werewolf for inspiration. [5]
In February 2007, director Mark Romanek was attached to helm The Wolfman. [4] Romanek's original vision was to "infuse a balance of cinema in a popcorn movie scenario": "When there’s a certain amount of money involved, these things make studios and producers a little nervous. They don’t necessarily understand it or they feel that the balance will swing too far to something esoteric, and we could never come to an agreement on the right balance for that type of thing. Ultimately it made more sense for them to find a director that was gonna fulfill their idea of the film that they wanted, and we just sort of parted ways". [6] In January 2008, Romanek left the project because of creative differences. [7] Brett Ratner emerged as a frontrunner to replace Romanek, but the studio also met with Frank Darabont, James Mangold and Joe Johnston. They were also interested in Bill Condon, and Martin Campbell was interested. [8] Johnston was hired to direct on in February, and the film's shooting schedule and budget remained as intended. [9] Johnston hired David Self to rewrite the script. [10]
Following the financial and critical disappointment of the 2010 remake, Universal Pictures announced its plan to reboot the Universal Classic Monsters in July 2014 as part of a shared universe known as the Dark Universe. [11] [12] In November 2014, Aaron Guzikowski was confirmed to be writing the reboot of Universal's The Wolf Man (1941). [13] [14] In June 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported on rumors that Universal wanted to cast Dwayne Johnson in the title role. [15] By October, development on the film began moving forward, and David Callaham was hired to rewrite the screenplay. [16] In 2017, The Mummy was released as the first film in the Dark Universe; its launch was both a critical and commercial failure, and resulted in Universal deciding to shift its focus on individual storytelling and move away from the shared universe concept with the cancelation of The Wolf Man and other films in development. [17]
Following the success of Leigh Whannell's The Invisible Man in 2020, Universal Pictures "scrap[ped] the universe concept" and loosened restrictions for the talent in front and behind the camera, allowing them to decide how they wanted to execute their films and inviting "big name talent" to pitch their ideas. [18] By early 2020, Universal had been hearing project ideas for a year and a half from a variety of filmmakers seeking to develop other characters in the franchise. This included Ryan Gosling's pitch to remake The Wolf Man, in the vein of Nightcrawler , with Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo writing the screenplay. Several filmmakers were considered to direct, including Cory Finley and Whannell, who initially demurred and was advised by producer Jason Blum to reconsider. In July, Whannell entered negotiations to both write a film treatment and direct. [19] Derek Cianfrance briefly took over directing and writing responsibilities in October 2021, before both Gosling and Cianfrance were reported to have exited the project in December 2023. Whannell returned to direct, along with writing the screenplay alongside Corbett Tuck, Schuker Blum, and Angelo. Christopher Abbott was also announced to be replacing Gosling in the lead role. [20]
List indicator(s)
- A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.
- A P indicates the character was shown in a photograph and/or mentioned.
- A U indicates a uncredited role.
- A V indicates a voice-only role.
- A C indicates a cameo appearance.
- A L indicates an appearance wherein an actor's facial features were digitally imprinted upon another actor's face.
- A Y indicates an appearance as a younger version of a pre-existing character.
- An A indicates an appearance through archival footage, audio or stills.
Crew/detail | Universal Classic Monsters | Stand-alone films | Remake | Reboot | ||||||
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The Wolf Man | Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man | House of Frankenstein | House of Dracula | Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein | Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman | Van Helsing | House of the Wolf Man | The Wolfman | Wolf Man | |
1941 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1948 | 2000 | 2004 | 2009 | 2010 | 2025 | |
Director(s) | George Waggner | Roy William Neill | Erle C. Kenton | Charles Barton | Kathi Castillo | Stephen Sommers | Eben McGarr | Joe Johnston | Leigh Whannell | |
Producer(s) | George Waggner | Paul Malvern | Robert Arthur | Stephen Sommers Bob Ducsay | Eden and John P. McGarr Roland R. Rosenberg Jr. David & Larry Sontag | Scott Stuber Benicio del Toro Rick Yorn & Sean Daniel | Jason Blum | |||
Writer(s) | Curt Siodmak | Edward T. Lowe | Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo & Gertrude Purcell | John Loy | Stephen Sommers | Eben McGarr | Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self | Leigh Whannell, Corbett Tuck, Lauren Schuker Blum, and Rebecca Angelo | ||
Composer(s) | Charles Previn, Hans J. Salter and Frank Skinner (uncredited) | Hans J. Salter | Hans J. Salter and Paul Dessau | William Lava | Frank Skinner | Mark Watters | Alan Silvestri | Nate Scott | Danny Elfman | Benjamin Wallfisch |
Editor(s) | Ted J. Kent | Edward Curtiss | Philip Cahn | Russell F. Schoengarth | Frank Gross | Jay Bisxen | Bob Ducsay & Kelly Matsumoto | Cyrus Navarro | Dennis Virkler, Walter Murch and Mark Goldblatt | Andy Canny |
Cinematographer | Joseph Valentine, ASC | George Robinson | Charles Van Enger | — | Allen Daviau | Royce A. Dudley | Shelly Johnson | Stefan Duscio | ||
Production companies | Universal Pictures | Bagdasarian Productions Universal Cartoon Studios Tama Productions | Sommers Company Stillking Films | My Way Pictures | Relativity Media Stuber Pictures | Blumhouse ProductionsMotel Movies | ||||
Distributor(s) | Universal Studios Home Video | Universal Pictures | Taurus Entertainment Company | Universal Pictures | ||||||
Runtime | 70 minutes | 75 minutes | 71 minutes | 67 minutes | 83 minutes | 77 minutes | 131 minutes | 75 minutes | 103 minutes | 103 minutes |
Release date | December 12, 1941 | March 5, 1943 | December 15, 1944 | December 7, 1945 | June 15, 1948 | August 29, 2000 | May 7, 2004 | October 1, 2009 | January 27, 2010 | January 17, 2025 |
Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
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The Wolf Man | 94% (35 reviews) [21] | 72 (8 reviews) [22] |
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man | 25% (12 reviews) [23] | — |
House of Frankenstein | 55% (11 reviews) [24] | — |
House of Dracula | 56% (9 reviews) [25] | — |
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein | 89% (27 reviews) [26] | — |
Van Helsing | 24% (226 reviews) [27] | 35 (38 reviews) [28] |
The Wolfman | 34% (217 reviews) [29] | 43 (36 reviews) [30] |
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a 1948 American horror comedy film directed by Charles Barton. The film features Count Dracula, who has partnered with Dr. Sandra Mornay in order to find a brain to reactivate Frankenstein's monster, and they find Wilbur Grey, the ideal candidate.
Frankenstein is a 1931 American gothic pre-Code science fiction horror film directed by James Whale, produced by Carl Laemmle Jr., and adapted from a 1927 play by Peggy Webling, which in turn was based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The Webling play was adapted by John L. Balderston and the screenplay written by Francis Edward Faragoh and Garrett Fort, with uncredited contributions from Robert Florey and John Russell.
Creighton Tull Chaney, known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film The Wolf Man (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard in Son of Dracula, Frankenstein's monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), the Mummy in three pictures, and various other roles in many Universal horror films, including six films in their 1940s Inner Sanctum series, making him a horror icon. He also portrayed Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men (1939) and played supporting parts in dozens of mainstream movies, including High Noon (1952), The Defiant Ones (1958), and numerous Westerns, musicals, comedies and dramas.
The Wolf Man is a 1941 American gothic horror film written by Curt Siodmak and produced and directed by George Waggner. The film stars Lon Chaney Jr. in the title role. Claude Rains, Warren William, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Bela Lugosi, Evelyn Ankers, and Maria Ouspenskaya star in supporting roles. The title character has had a great deal of influence on Hollywood's depictions of the legend of the werewolf. The film is the second Universal Pictures werewolf film, preceded six years earlier by the less commercially successful Werewolf of London (1935). This film is one of the Universal Monsters movies, and garnered great acclaim for its production.
Dracula is a 1931 American pre-Code supernatural horror film directed and co-produced by Tod Browning from a screenplay written by Garrett Fort and starring Bela Lugosi in the title role. It is based on the 1924 stage play Dracula by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, which in turn is adapted from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Lugosi portrays Count Dracula, a vampire who emigrates from Transylvania to England and preys upon the blood of living victims, including a young man's fiancée.
Jack Pierce was a Hollywood make-up artist best remembered for creating the iconic makeup worn by Boris Karloff in Frankenstein (1931), along with various other classic monster make-ups for Universal Studios.
Monster Force is a 13-episode animated television series created in April 9, 1994 by Universal Cartoon Studios and Canadian studio Lacewood Productions. The story is set in approximately 2020 and centers on a group of teenagers who, with help of high tech weaponry, fight off against classic Universal Monsters and spiritual beings threatening humanity. Some of the crew have personal vendettas, while others fight for mankind out of a sense of altruism. The series aired in syndication alongside another Universal animated series, Exosquad. Universal Studios Home Entertainment released the first seven episodes to DVD on September 15, 2009.
Wolf man or Wolfman may refer to:
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is a 1943 American horror film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. The script, written by Curt Siodmak, follows The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) and The Wolf Man (1941), though with a number of retcons. Most significantly, Talbot only transforms into werewolf form during a full moon, which became a standard part of werewolf lore. The film involves Larry Talbot, who is resurrected when his tomb is disturbed. His search for a way to end his seeming immortality leads to his befriending Frankenstein's monster.
House of Frankenstein is a 1944 American horror film starring Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr. and John Carradine. It was directed by Erle C. Kenton and produced by Universal Pictures. Based on Curt Siodmak's story "The Devil's Brood", the film is about Dr. Gustav Niemann, who escapes from prison and promises to create a new body for his assistant Daniel. Over the course of the film, they encounter Count Dracula, the Wolf Man and Frankenstein's monster. The film is a sequel to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943).
House of Dracula is a 1945 American horror film released and distributed by Universal Pictures. Directed by Erle C. Kenton, the film features several Universal Horror properties meeting as they had done in the 1944 film House of Frankenstein. The film is set at the castle home of Dr. Franz Edelmann, who is visited first by Count Dracula and later by Larry Talbot, the Wolf Man, who are trying to cure their vampirism and lycanthropy, respectively. Talbot is eventually cured, which leads him to discover the body of Frankenstein's monster in a cave below the base of the castle. Edelemann takes the monster's body back to his laboratory but finds Count Dracula has awakened and by attacking his assistants, he captures Edelmann and forces a reverse blood transfusion, which gives Edelmann a split personality and makes him a killer.
The Universal Monsters media franchise includes characters based on a series of horror films produced by Universal Pictures and released between 1913–1956.
The Wolfman is a 2010 American gothic horror film directed by Joe Johnston, from a screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self. A remake of the 1941 film of the same name, it stars Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving. The film’s story follows Lawrence based in America who, after his brother's brutal murder, returns to his ancestral homeland in England, where he gets bitten by a werewolf and is cursed to become one.
Lawrence StewartTalbot, also known as the Wolf Man, is a title character of the 1941 Universal film The Wolf Man and its sequels, created by Curt Siodmak. He was portrayed by Lon Chaney Jr. In the 2010 remake of the film, he is portrayed by Benicio del Toro and in the 2025 reboot of the film, he is portrayed by Christopher Abbott. The Wolf Man was part of the Universal Monsters ensemble.
House of the Wolf Man is an American independent monster horror film produced in 2009 by My Way Pictures. The film was inspired by the Universal Monsters movies, and was shot in the same style. The film's star Ron Chaney is the great-grandson of Lon Chaney and the grandson of Lon Chaney Jr., both of whom starred in numerous Universal Monsters films.
Universal Orlando's Horror Make-Up Show, formerly known as The Phantom of the Opera Horror Make-Up Show and The Gory, Gruesome and Grotesque Horror Make-Up Show, is a live show located at Universal Studios Florida that opened on June 7, 1990, along with the theme park. It is a live demonstration of Universal Pictures' legacy of horror movies, with particular emphasis on prosthetic makeup. It was inspired by the former The Land of a Thousand Faces show (1975–1980) at Universal Studios Hollywood. It is also notable for being one of two original opening-day attractions still in operation at Universal Studios Florida, the other being E.T. Adventure.
Frankenstein is a film series of horror films from Universal Pictures based on the play version by Peggy Webling and the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. The series follow the story of a monster created by Henry Frankenstein who is made from body parts of corpses and brought back to life. The rest of the series generally follows the monster continuously being revived and eventually focuses on a series of cross overs with other Universal horror film characters such as The Wolf Man. The series consists of the following films: Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Son of Frankenstein (1939), The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).
Dracula is a film series of horror films from Universal Pictures based on the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker and its 1927 play adaptation. Film historians have had various interpretations over which projects constitute being in the film series; academics and historians finding narrative continuation between Dracula (1931) and Dracula's Daughter (1936), while holding varying opinions on whether Son of Dracula (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944) and House of Dracula (1945) are part of the series. Author and academic Gary Don Rhodes stated the all the mentioned films would require an audience to be familiar with Count Dracula, portrayed by Bela Lugosi, and the various character traits the actor established in the original 1931 film.
The Invisible Man is a film series by Universal Pictures. The series consists of The Invisible Man (1933), The Invisible Man Returns (1940), The Invisible Woman (1940), Invisible Agent (1942), The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944) and Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951). The film series borrows elements from H. G. Wells's novel The Invisible Man, but it focuses primarily on the idea of a serum that causes someone to go invisible and its side-effects.
Wolf Man is a 2025 American psychological body horror film directed by Leigh Whannell from a screenplay he co-wrote with Corbett Tuck. A reboot of The Wolf Man (1941), the film stars Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, and Sam Jaeger. The plot follows a family man seeking to protect his wife and daughter from a werewolf, only to become infected and slowly transform into the creature. Jason Blum produces alongside his Blumhouse Productions banner.