Ryan Gosling to star in Universal's 'Wolfman'

Universal has started developing a new monster movie, "Wolfman" with Hollywood star Ryan Gosling set to take on the lead role. The studio is gradually developing a cinematic universe around its classic monster characters and with the success of its small-budget horror thriller "The Invisible Man", it has decided to go ahead with "Wolfman", about a man who turns into a werewolf.

According to Variety, the film is based on an original pitch by Gosling with "Orange is the New Black" scribes Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo penning the script.

The new adaptation is said to be styled after Jake Gyllenhaal's "Nightcrawler" and will be set in modern times with an obvious supernatural twist.

The studio is in talks with a number of filmmakers for the director's job with "Bad Education" helmer Cory Finley currently leading the race.

The last movie based on the studio's classic monster character was 2010's Benicio del Toro-starrer "The Wolfman", which was a reboot of the 1941 original of the same name. The film had also featured Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving.

In 2017, Universal had planned a cinematic world, dubbed "Dark Universe" for its monster characters and roped in stars like Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Javier Bardem and Sofia Boutella for it.

However, the failure of Cruise-starrer "The Mummy" the same year, spilled water on its plans.

The studio is now planning to release individual films on the characters with "The Invisible Man" reboot being the first one.

The Elizabeth Moss-starrer, which was made on a budget of USD 7 million, amassed over USD 120 million during its theatrical run in February.

Universal is simultaneously also working a number of projects, including Elizabeth Banks' "Invisible Woman", Paul Feig's "Dark Army", Dexter Fletcher's "Renfield", and Karyn Kusama's "Dracula".

(Image - AP)