- Wolf Man new horror by The Invisible Man’s Leigh Whannell
- Whannell says his movie is inspired by David Cronenberg’s The Fly
- Movie hits cinemas in early 2025
Avoid leaving your house on a full moon because a new Wolf Man is among us.
Directed by Leigh Whannell, this fresh take on Universal’s feral monster promises a gritty update on a furry foe.
Whannell has experience in this type of frightful filmmaking too. Bursting onto the scene with 2004’s Saw, Whannell went on to terrify us with three Insidious movies. Next, he turned his attention to The Invisible Man in 2020.
Read more: The Conjuring voted “scariest film ever” in poll
Here, he put a modern-day spin on another of Universal’s iconic creature features, reminding us how terrifying they can be in the process. With Wolf Man, Whannell looks set to repeat the same formula – but when is it released, what is it about and is there a trailer to whet our appetite?
Here’s what we know so far.
When is Wolf Man released?
Wolf Man hits cinemas in America and the United Kingdom on 17 January 2025.
Blumhouse produces the movie, a production company that’s delivered the most successful horror films of recent years. These include films like Upgrade, Five Nights at Freddies and Whannell’s The Invisible Man.
Interestingly, Ryan Gosling is an executive producer but he isn’t set to star.
Is there a trailer for Wolf Man?
The first official trailer for Wolf Man made its way online in early November and shed some more light on this forest-dwelling terror tale.
In it, we watch a family suffer a car accident but that’s only the start of their troubles. After being hased through the woods by a mysterious animal, a father, mother and daughter have to fend off something evil… until it makes its way into the house.
Watch it below:
Before this full trailer was released, Whannell teased his film with a short teaser setting audiences up for a family-based frightener that saw an evil presence hit a little too close to home.
Watch the Wolf Man teaser below:
What is Wolf Man about?
Whannell’s Wolf Man will take audiences deep into the woods to tell a deadly story of man versus animal… and man becoming animal.
According to the film’s synopsis, it will follow barely-still-together couple Blake and Charlotte and their young daughter Ginger. Together, they travel to a remote cabin in the woods – one that Blake used to visit frequently as a child and has now inherited after his father mysteriously vanishes.
However, as the story run-down explains “as the family approaches the farmhouse in the dead of night, they’re attacked by an unseen animal and, in a desperate escape, barricade themselves inside the home as the creature prowls the perimeter.
As the night takes over, “Blake begins to behave strangely, transforming into something unrecognisable, and Charlotte will be forced to decide whether the terror within their house is more lethal than the danger without.”
Speaking to Empire in November 2024, Whannell said his movie was inspired by another body-horror classic.
“What The Fly did that a lot of other practical-effects-driven horror movies from that time did not do was bring the tragedy out of these practical effects,” said the director, comparing Wolf Man to David Cronenberg’s slimy classic.
“It wasn’t a joke in The Fly. It was there to illustrate someone who was dying of an illness…“I was like, ‘I’ve got to do that’,” he says. “It’s not about being funny or icky or gory. This is about the tragedy of the human body falling apart.”
Who is starring in Wolf Man?
Wolf Man stars Christopher Abbott as Blake, a father who takes his family to a remote cabin that he enjoyed as a child and has now inherited. Viewers may recognise Abbott from 2023’s award-winning movie Poor Things.
He’s joined by Ozark’s Julia Garner as his wife Charlotte and Hullraisers star Matilda Firth as their young daughter Ginger. Together, the trio are forced to fight Whannell’s Wolf Man.
According to Whannell, Charlotte will be the “emotional compass” of his movie.
“She’s going to be the emotional compass of this film,” the filmmaker told Empire. “She’s going to be what Shelley Duvall was in The Shining.
“You don’t get scared in The Shining without Shelley Duvall. And so I was like, ‘I’ve got to find someone who can drink up the audience’s empathy.’ And she did an incredible job.”
Meanwhile, the film will co-star a number of other actors in as-yet-undisclosed roles. These include The Handmaid’s Tale star Sam Jaeger, The Invisible Man star Benedict Hardie and Ben Prendergast, an actor best known for voice roles.
Meanwhile, Power Rangers RPM str Milo Cawthorne will appear alongside Beatriz Romilly and Zac Chandler but their characters remain a mystery for now.
