What we know about Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man

Best beware the moon because a new take on original Universal movie monster the Wolf Man is sprinting our way full-pelt with help from the horror experts at Blumhouse.

This new version will be helmed by Leigh Whannell, the same filmmaker behind horror hits like Saw, Insidious and 2020’s socially conscious and wholly nail-biting reboot of The Invisible Man.

Like his work on Universal’s transparent terror, Whannell promises to give one of cinema’s most enduring creatures a timely reboot while adding to a growing list of reimagined movie monsters.

Here’s what we know about it so far.

When will Wolf Man be released?

Whannell’s Wolf Man will be released in cinemas on Friday, 17 January 2025.

In addition to directing, Whannel also co-wrote the script with his wife Corbett Tuck and Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, the duo behind GameStop drama Dumb Money. Meanwhile, Blumhouse boss Jason Blum is producing the project.

Is there a trailer for Wolf Man?

The first trailer for Wolf Man tells a family tale impacted by an otherworldly terror — one with sharp teeth, fur and a bloodthirsty nature. While keeping its grizzly goods hidden, the short tease manages to whet the appetite for whatever Whannel is cooking up.

Watch it below:

Shortly before this trailer arrived, audiences were given a sneak peek at Whannell’s Wolf Man via an in-character performer at Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights attraction. While the footage was met with a few smirks online, it’s unclear whether this version of the Wolf Man will appear in the final film.

What will happen in Wolf Man?

Like The Invisible Man before it, Whannell’s angle on the Wolf Man appears to take a more grounded approach, focusing on a fractured family that’s forced to face up to a monster lurking within its midst. The movie’s cryptic synopsis describes the film “lupine nightmare”, asking: “What if someone you loved became something else?”

It adds: “Blake, a San Francisco husband and father, inherits his remote childhood home in rural Oregon after his own father vanishes and is presumed dead. With his marriage to his high-powered wife, Charlotte, fraying, Blake persuades Charlotte to take a break from the city and visit the property with their young daughter, Ginger.

“But as the family approaches the farmhouse in the dead of night, they’re attacked by an unseen animal and, in a desperate escape, barricade themselves inside the home as the creature prowls the perimeter.

“As the night stretches on, however, Blake begins to behave strangely, transforming into something unrecognisable, and Charlotte will be forced to decide whether the terror within their house is more lethal than the danger without.”

Who is in the Wolf Man cast?

Poor Things star Christopher Abbott will lead Wolf Man as Blake, the troubled father who’s struggles trying to keep his family together are about to get much harder thanks to a rouge werewolf.

Ozark’s Julia Garner will play his bread-winner wife Charlotte, with Hullraisers star Matilda Firth playing the pair’s young daughter Ginger.

Meanwhile, The Handmaid’s Tale star Sam Jaeger, Star Wars’ Ben Prendergast, and The Invisible Man alum Benedict Hardie are also set to star, but their roles remain hidden in shadow for now.

Wolf Man is released in cinemas on Friday, 17 January, 2025.