Gosling, Labyrinth, Apple: Weekly Round Up

1st June 2020

Gosling, Labyrinth, Apple: Weekly Round Up

Alright, so if you’re a regular reader of these weekly round-ups then it’ll likely come as no surprise to you at all that the biggest story this week, for me at least, is horror-themed. I mean because of course it is, because I’m a huge horror fan, and I lap up anything even slightly related to the genre.

I was one of the many people who were hopeful for Universal’s proposed Dark Universe, an extended shared cinematic universe that was to feature their roster of Classic Monsters from the golden age of cinema, most notably; Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Invisible Man.

Well, that particular shared Universe was brought to a screeching, train-wreck level halt of the kind Claude Rains’ Invisible Man unleashes in James Whale’s classic, when the Tom Cruise starring The Mummy was forced upon the world to a similar reception one might expect a literal plague-bringing Mummy might receive. It was a terrible, mess of a movie, and somehow managed to please precisely no-one in its approach. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; quite why anyone in their right mind would think that a Mission: Impossible style action adventure movie was the way to go when remaking a classic horror property is beyond me.

Luckily, earlier this year, before the end of the world was upon us, we seemed to get hope in the form of Leigh Whannel’s excellent The Invisible Man.

That movie seems to have shifted Universal’s arse into gear, and they are now moving full steam ahead with what seems to be a whole host of other monster-inspired properties, the most recent of which is this week’s big news; an update of The Wolf Man starring Ryan Gosling.

The film is reportedly going to be written by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, the writer’s of the popular Netflix show Orange in the New Black. While there’s no director currently attached, it has been suggested that the film will be in a similar vein to Dan Gilroy’s fantastic thriller, Nightcrawler, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal.

I’ll be totally honest with you, folks, I am down for this. Not only am I fully behind this newly revamped (pun intended) Monster slate, but I also think we’re in dire need of a new and interesting take on the werewolf mythos. The last one I remember with a mainstream release was the Benicio Del Toro starring The Wolfman back in 2010, and that movie was… well, it was thing.

This Nightcrawler-Wolfman thing isn’t the only project to have piqued my interest this week though, as we also got confirmation Scott Dereckson, the man behind Sinister and Doctor Strange, has found his next project after dropping out of the upcoming Doctor Strange In The Multi-verse of Madness.

Dereckson will reportedly be helming a sequel to Jim Henson’s 1986 classic musical fantasy Labyrinth.

Perhaps most famous for David Bowie’s crotch piece, Labyrinth also starred a young Jennifer Connolly, and boasted a script from Monty Python member Terry Jones. It also houses some of the most impressive puppet work committed to screen, and is extremely beloved by a great many as a childhood classic of untouchable proportions.

Quite what this sequel will be is anyone’s guess, and it is unknown whether Connolly will be reprising her role from the original, but it’s a safe bet to say that, in the wake of the successful Dark Crystal prequel, Age of Resistance, this will likely lean heavily on the practical effects that many consider integral to the original’s success.

The other big question, of course, is who will take on the role of antagonist, replacing Bowie’s now iconic turn as the Goblin King? Well, lots have names have been bandied around, including Tilda Swinton as a Goblin Queen. For my money, I like the idea of a Goblin Queen, but if we’re looking for someone to fill Bowie’s shoes within a modern context, I think the role is practically tailor-made for Lady Ga Ga. I mean, c’mon. Make this happen, please? #LadyGaGaIsTheGoblinQueen

Finally, and most inexplicably, this week we got news that filmmaking legends Martin Scorsese, Leondaro DiCaprio and Robert De Niro can’t secure a budget. For some reason, Paramount seemed to struggle to figure out they would market a movie directed by an iconic that sees him reteam with both his current Hollywood A-lister regular collaborator and his previous Hollywood A-lister regular collabortator. I mean, I get it. It’s a hard sell…

Set in the 1920s, Scorsese’s upcoming adaptation of book Killers of the Flower Moon, starring both DiCaprio and De Niro (seriously, what the hell, why wouldn’t you fund this beast?) is described a serial killer drama based on a true story.

Luckily, for all us fans of films that aren’t about superheroes or space wizards, Apple stepped in to help Paramount with the costs, landing themselves a deal for the movie’s streaming rights for their streaming service Apple+. So, at least there’s someone out there in the world of Hollywood willing to fund what could very well be one of the most exciting projects ever.

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