Updated: Universal deny WOLF MAN story

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

Universal have e-mailed AICN and made a telephone call to CHUD with denials of this story - seems like The Playlist's source let them down, but don't get beat up on those guys. They have produced solid scoops before, including recently the departure of Paul Greengrass from the Bourne series. We can all get it wrong now and again. Universal say the only editing work been done right now is last minute F/X, sound mixing and dropping in the final credits. Here's what AICN are running with...

1) It was Joe Johnston's idea to bring in editor Walter Murch after the spring '09 reshoots to supply a "fresh perspective" and, most importantly, get the film in shape. "We were running a little long in that phase because we'd added new footage," said Stuber. "So it was about shaping that footage. There's never been that kind of contention; it's never been this editing suite vs. that editing suite." 2) Murch did the bulk of the work. Mark Goldblatt was only on for three or four weeks to assist with a complicated London set piece. 3) Moving the release date from November to February was all about finishing the f/x, particularly in that London sequence. "You have all of these backgrounds you've got to get right," said Stuber. "All of these period buildings and the way they're lit. They weren't getting finished correctly, so they sort of took you out of a little bit. Getting the extra six weeks to work on that stuff was helpful." 4) Per Stuber: "The thing about Donna ... they weren't really involved in that stuff. They knew doing, and they were supportive of it, but there's never been an editing room that was sanctioned by the studio against the filmmakers." 5) The dual test screenings in November were not dueling test screenings. "There were sequences or pieces that we wanted to try differently," said Stuber. "And we did them back-to-back so we could watch them. Like when Abbberline (Hugo Weaving) arrives at the house for the first time." Basically, it was all about rhythm and pacing. Nothing major. By the way, they've got their R-rating from the MPAA, so don't worry about that being rescinded. 6) The future of Universal's other "Classic Monsters" is not contingent on the success of THE WOLFMAN. Each of these projects is its own entity, and they all have little to do with one another.

So that's settled then. Sorry for the confusion, I usually have a better bullshit radar than that but I wasn't the only one who trusted The Playlist on this one. UPDATED:AICN have a slightly more optimistic take on things, though they are still confused as to what's really going down...

"I know everyone wants to assume the worst here, but I'm not so inclined. The fact that they're still slaving away on THE WOLFMAN after last month's test screening (which impressed my sources) indicates to me that there's something worth saving. I mean, you don't hire Walter Murch to sift through your garbage. That said, it's strange for Universal to be having auteur issues with the capable Johnston, who was hired to guide this troubled production to the finish line with as little fuss as possible after they'd spent a considerable amount of development dollars on Mark Romanek's initial vision.

END OF UPDATE. Astonishingly, Universal are still trying to salvage something from The Wolf Man, despite the widely accepted belief that the remake is D.O.A. come February 13th. According to The Playlist - who don't name their sources but I trust 'em enough to believe it - the studio have given out a further paycheck to another emergency editor who as we speak is sat with Universal's President of Production Donna Langley in an editing booth, trying to put together a miracle cut that could only act as damage limitation. Quite amazingly but not altogether surprising given the nature of this picture - director Joe Johnston is said to be in another editing bay altogether, hard at work on a completely different cut of his own, probably with at least one eye on pre-production for his Captain Americatentpole which films this summer. One does wonder why he would still care about old Wolfy by now but I commend the wasted effort anyway. Maybe's he's got two windows up on his computer screen and everytime a Universal exec walks in, he quickly tabs & shifts away from his Cap America research and pretends to be actually working on the hairy, bloody beast. All this 11th hour re-workings makes me wonder what the first bunch of emergency editors Walter Murch and Mark Goldblatt were hired to do or what happened with the work they contributed? With two different cuts, the usual working practice would be to test screen them both and then release the one that plays the best with audiences but the movie is due out in just over five weeks time, time is not their friend right now.