Ryan Gosling to Play Wolfman in Universal Monster Movie

Ryan Gosling is joining Universal’s monster universe.

On Friday, it was reported that the Oscar winner will star as the titular role in “Wolfman,” the next film in Universal’s relaunched monster movie franchise.

According to Variety, who first reported the news, the latest take on the iconic horror character will be set in present day and has been described as having a similar vibe to the 2014 Jake Gyllenhaal thriller, “Nightcrawler.” It is also believed that Gosling will play an anchorman who gets infected, sources told THR.

Based on Gosling’s original pitch, the script is penned by Lauren Shucker Blum, who is the wife of Blumhouse’s Jason Blum, and “Orange is the New Black” writer Rebecca Angelo. There is currently no director attached to the project, however, sources told Variety Universal executives have been meeting with directors over the past month.

Gosling’s “Wolfman” will be the latest reimagining based on the legendary Universal character, which was first introduced in 1935’s “Werewolf in London.” The monster was then played by Lon Chaney Jr. in 1941’s “The Wolf Man.” It wasn’t remade again until 2010’s “The Wolfman,” which starred Benicio del Toro.

The new “Wolfman” comes after the success of “The Invisible Man,” which marked the first film of the studio’s revamp of its monster universe. The horror thriller, which starred Elisabeth Moss and was produced by Blumhouse, earned more than $122 million in the global box office and continued to be hit on VOD after theaters shut their doors due to the global pandemic.

Universal’s catalog includes the classic monsters Dracula, the Mummy, Frankenstein, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and more. According to The Hollywood Reporter, in addition to “Wolfman” there are several monster films in the works, including Elizabeth Banks’ “The Invisible Woman,” a Dracula flick “Renfield” from Dexter Fletcher, Paul Feig-directed “Dark Army” and Karyn Kusama’s “Dracula.”