THE WOLFMAN may be on the prowl right now but JEKYYL & HYDE just lost it's director!!

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

Did mega-talented Danish filmmaker Nicholas Winding Refn (Bronson, Pusher) feel an indigestible sense of panic at The Wolfman this week and say, to "hell with Universal" - bailing the hell out of his directing duties on the contemporary remake of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde for fear that the studio might take over his film the way they did Mark Romanek's, and eventually Joe Johnston's? The official word is "scheduling difficulties" as to why Refn has departed the movie he wanted to shoot 2011 but allegedly the breaking point came when Universal said it had to be filmed this year. Whatever the true facts are, it's safe to say they will have a hard time finding someone with as much talent as he.

"I just couldn't do it when they needed me," Winding Refn noted. "Keanu is a wonderful actor and I'm sure it will be a fantastic film with him in."

Yup, sadly Keanu Reeves is still attached to lead as both Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, this despite him barely playing two different roles in his whole career, let alone two in the same movie! Whoever they do find to direct this - I sincerely hope Universal have learnt from their mistakes on The Wolfman and will let the director breathe with his own vision. Hell, you can hire anyone that's interested you like - so there really is no excuse for Universal to go tampering with his vision at a later date, because you hired him and knew what he wanted to turn in. AND... it has to be Reeves playing both characters with no major physical changes. Reeves as Jekyll & a CGI Reeves as Mr. Hyde just won't cut it.