Joe Johnston‘s The Wolfman has been plagued by many production problems and it’s success is crucial for Universal (check out The Playlist for a great write-up highlighting these points). Variety has recently reported deep inside an article that top editors Walter Murch and Mark Goldblatt have been hired to recut the film. Murch is one of the finest editors in the world, behind such films as Apocalypse Now, The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and most recently Francis Ford Coppola’s Tetro. Goldblatt was behind James Cameron‘s Terminator films and True Lies. He also has had experience with other big blockbusters while editing Armageddon, Bad Boys II, and Starship Troopers. It looks like Warner Brothers had a test screening of this recent cut last night at their studio. I’ve managed to uncover a few tweets regarding the screening and confirmation that Walter Murch was there. Check them out below.
josefthegeek: Saw an early screening of The Wolfman. Not terrible, but overall underwhelming. Creature effects were easily the highlight.
Amanda_Mosh: saw Walter Murch at The Wolfman screening…pretty awesome…movie was frickin’ awesome.
Lissa _Ann: saw wolfman tonight… it was alright… not really my type of movie..and WALTER MURCH was there!!!!
Take the reports as you will, I’m sure we will get some full reviews soon. I wonder how much of a difference Murch and Goldblatt could make as these reports aren’t as positive as the ones sent to AICN for the test screening of the earlier cut that occurred last March. A new french poster and trailer has been released as well. Check them out below via Bloody Disgusting and Shock Till You Drop.
Plot: Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro), a haunted nobleman, is lured back to his family estate after his brother vanishes. Reunited with his estranged father (Anthony Hopkins), Talbot sets out to find his brother… and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself. Talbot’s childhood ended the night his mother died. After he left the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor, he spent decades recovering and trying to forget. But when his brother’s fiancée, Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt), tracks him down to help find her missing love, Talbot returns home to join the search. He learns that something with brute strength and insatiable bloodlust has been killing the villagers, and that a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector named Aberline (Hugo Weaving) has come to investigate.
The Wolfman hits theaters February 10th, 2010.
Are you excited for The Wolfman? Do you think Murch and Goldblatt can turn it around?