12 Movies Studios Tried (And Failed) To Fix After Fan Reactions

The Universal Classic Monsters series had been trying and failing to take off for a very long time by 2010, capped with more than a handful of big-budget Dracula and Mummy disasters.

The Wolfman was the film that put the final nail in the coffin of that decade of remakes, prior to Universal gearing up (and nonetheless failing) with 2014's Dracula Untold in order to produce a new line and connected series of these films.

Test screen audiences were shown a range of cuts for The Wolfman, and Universal determined that they preferred the longer version. Thus, in a rare instance of the studio opting for the longer cut, they chose to stick it out with the two-hour version. Though grounded in an all-star cast of serious acting talent fronted by Benicio del Toro, The Wolfman's broody and plodding final cut failed to rein in much interest. Curiously, even Ronald Meyer (the president of Universal Studios) spoke out against the film upon its release.

With Ryan Gosling pegged to star in a 2020/21 version, perhaps Universal is soon to break the monsters' curse.