After this year’s smash hit of Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man, Universal is looking to go full steam ahead on a reboot of its iconic Wolfman franchise with Ryan Gosling (The Nice Guys) currently being eyed to star and the search for a director narrowing down, according to Variety.
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Sources report that executives at the Hollywood studio have been meeting with directors this past month in hopes of making a decision on who will helm the project, and though there is no one filmmaker currently leading the pack, Bad Education‘s Cory Finley is reportedly one of the directors in talks to take on the job.
Gosling himself was reportedly eyed to helm the project and direct at one point, which would’ve marked his second venture behind the camera after 2014’s Lost River, but after talks with the studio, both parties agreed it would be better for the Oscar nominee to remain in an actor position.
The film, based on a pitch from Gosling himself, is set to be penned by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebeca Angelo, known for working on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, and though details on the plot are unknown at this time, it’s believed to be set in modern day and follow in the footsteps of the Jake Gyllenhaal-starrer Nightcrawler.
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Gosling’s project marks one of a few in which the studio is looking to help bring to life after the financial and critical failure of its attempted interconnected franchise, Dark Universe, which began with the Tom Cruise vehicle The Mummy. With the studio looking to focus on more character and filmmaker-driven projects rather than major franchise fare, they are currently working with Paul Feig for a crossover horror comedy Dark Universe, as well as taking pitches from James Wan and John Krasinski for other adaptations of their classic monster library. While the original Dark Universe was still in play the studio was previously courting Dwayne Johnson to portray the Wolfman.
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