A small fraction of the budget, none of the hype, and only one genre, and I still think that Joe Johnston’s (Jurassic Park III, October Sky) Wolfman trailer beats the pants off of James Cameron’s Avatar trailer. Wolfman has two things that Avatar does not: Benicio Del Toro and a fucking werewolf. And from the looks of it, a pretty goddamn good one.
It’s been a long while since we’ve seen a good werewolf movie. I wouldn’t necessarily count on this one to save the day — it’s had a lot of production problems, and has been pushed back several times. It’s not set for February, which doesn’t exactly inspire a lot of hope. But the transformation scenes featured in the trailer, do.
Check out the flash from the shotgun in the woods. :24 second mark. Holy shit. AWESOME.
Posted by: tf breakher at August 20, 2009 11:54 AM
My friend was in Cuba recently and bumped into Benicio del Toro. She took a picture with him and when she was about to leave she noticed Bill Murray was with Del Toro. She took a picture with him as well and he checked her out as she walked away.
If you don't realize why this story is important then I guess it's a waste of time to explain the cooller by association concept to you.
Now all we need is for someone to cast Hopkins in a dope remake of Frankenstein and he'll have hit the classic horror trifecta!
Posted by: JenVegas at August 20, 2009 12:08 PM
Ah yes...finally a venerable treatment of one of my famed Universal bunch. Now...on to a brilliant Frankenstein's Monster, a brilliant Mummy, a not-fucking-musical Phantom of the Opera, an Invisible Man, a fine classical telling of Dracula, shit....and a good Creature film would be awesome too.
Joe Johnson/Benicio Del Toro...although it is awkward to say this to other men, I'd like to thank you for the large damp spot on the front of my khakis this afternoon. I couldn't make it somewhere private fast enough.
Posted by: PissBoy at August 20, 2009 12:09 PM
My reaction to this trailer:
"Oh, it's a period piece, is it? I guess werewolf stories work better that way. Wasn't Corey Feldman in a werewolf movie once? In the 80s? Where he was in a wheelchair? Not Feldman, Haim. It was the movie version of the Stephen King story, what was that called? Oh, yeah, Silver Bullet. Don't I have the comic of that somewhere? Hey, Emily Blunt is in this? I love her! Wait, is that Hugo Weaving? He's pretty much awesome. Mmm Benicio. Oh, it's Roddy McDowell. Good for him. Wow, that transformation is super. It's like American Werewolf in London carried to the next logical step. Hey, that's not Roddy, is that... who is that? Anthony Hopkins? Why does he look so much like Roddy? That's weird. Wow, I'm loving the photography in this. That totally *is* Hopkins! I love it when he "slums", like when he played Van Helsing in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Ack! Fingers bending backwards! Creepy long fingers! Ack! Hey, what the hell is that little creature? What does he have to do with werewolves? Wow, this actually looks really good."
I'm thinking maybe I need to cut back on the caffeine.
Does anyone else get a little happy chill at how gleeful Anthony Hopkins looks when he says, "Terrible things Lawrence -- you've done terrible things."
I'll see this movie if for no other reason than it's got a fucking fantastic cast. No one, except possibly Hugo Weaving, can do joyful malice like Hopkins, and this has them both. And Emily Blunt! And Benicio del Toro! And a whole bunch of other real British actors who actually can act!
Posted by: Neodiogenes at August 20, 2009 12:26 PM
Once every month - when the moon is full - a normal human being is transformed into a raging, terrifying beast. Why hasn't anyone cast a woman as the "Wolfman?" It seems so obvious, don't you think?
I gave a little squee! when I heard the name Francis Abberline...not the RIGHT Abberline, but hell, Agent Smith/Elrond will do.
Posted by: dammitjanet at August 20, 2009 12:54 PM
Wow, Duane, how clever. You really should publish this stuff. The next one should be about how black people are one way, and white people are like totally the opposite!
Posted by: MG at August 20, 2009 12:57 PM
Ill wait for this one on blu-ray. And no it does not look better than Avatar.
Posted by: Continental Almonds at August 20, 2009 12:58 PM
What, the Salvation trailers? They looked like what the first Transformers movie must have looked like to people who don't know or care about Transformers.
I think this looks FANTASTIC! I was a bit skeptical about Del Toro's casting at first but now that I am able to see him wolf-the-fuck-out...I'm sold and was dead wrong!
Its about time we get to see an O.G. monster creeping through the foggy woods again! Love the mood and some of the shots are composed extremely well! Can't wait!
Draw blood...
Posted by: ShinyKate'sShineRag at August 20, 2009 2:29 PM
Really? Am I the only one who thinks the obvious changes they made don't look for the better? The original story worked so well, why add a tormented past involving werewolves aspect? There's just no way the ending to this one will be as effective as the original.
Posted by: s. pisaster at August 20, 2009 3:10 PM
Ooh, this looks totally awesome, even if Benicio del Toro looks exactly like this gigantic douche I knew in high school, which has made me hate Del Toro most unfairly. I love a good scary creature movie, and this looks fun and disturbing. And oh man I'd pay anything to watch this werewolf eat the twilight "werewolves".
So MG, you're saying it IS obvious? Don't hide your meaning. Just tell me. If there is something you want me to know, I'm all ears. I'm here to learn, after all, from ALL the bitchy people.
Posted by: Duane at August 20, 2009 3:22 PM
Duane,
Time for you to go back under your bridge.
Posted by: ShinyKate'sShineRag at August 20, 2009 4:13 PM
Duane - somebody much brighter than you got to that metaphor first and actually managed to make it non-douchy. It's called Ginger Snaps. Lycanthropy as a metaphor for female puberty. Actually, In the Company of Wolves uses that idea too. So way to go, your clever little joke was co-opted by feminists over 20 years ago. Try coming up with something new to offend us at least.
Posted by: s. pisaster at August 20, 2009 4:45 PM
And also, to a lesser extent, The Howling II.
Posted by: ShinyKate'sShineRag at August 20, 2009 8:38 PM
What's the record for edits in a trailer anyway? I'll start counting this one ...
Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at August 21, 2009 1:19 AM
Question: was I the only one who confused Hugo Weaving for Adam 'Jayne in Firefly' Baldwin at first? I totally squealed until I realized who it was (and then I squealed again).
It's the beard, that confuses me...
Anyway, this looks excellent! Looking forward to seeing popular media switch their attention from vampires to werewolves. :)
Posted by: Linda at August 22, 2009 8:52 AM
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That's much better. Got the stink from Avatar right out of my mind.
And I was starting to forget that they were originally called Wolfmen, or Werewolves, not Lycans.