Director Leigh Whannell gets honest about ‘Wolf Man’

Universal Pictures is set to offer their new monster Wolf Man next year, but its director has some caution to share with fans.

Leigh Whannell, in an interview with SFX magazine, admitted his take on the iconic frightening creature may not be liked by “some people.”

Sharing the reason, he said he went for a new approach in the upcoming film. “I think you have to bring a new approach.” 

This means the Wolf Man has “no CGI elements; instead, it was made from 100% practical, all make-up.”

“Maybe there are some people that won’t like it because they love the traditional wolf too much, but that was the approach I wanted.” the filmmaker noted.

His remarks come after a performer at the 2024 Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights event in Orlando in a get-up of a Wolf Man posted for a photo-op.

“Things slipped through the cracks, and it was like, ‘Oh, they’re doing this promotion for Wolf Man at a theme park, but it doesn’t look right,'” Leigh shared after many believed that to be the official look for the horror flick.

“We shouldn’t be putting that out in the world because people are going to think that’s what our wolf looks like.’ My only response is to say, ‘Look, that doesn’t represent what we’re doing.'” 

“All I can do is wait for the movie to come out. Then hopefully people will be like, ‘Oh, I see what they were doing.'” So, if you think you’ve seen the Wolf Man…you haven’t,” the director added.

Wolf Man will be out on January 17, 2025.