Whereas we have seen loads of nice authentic horror motion pictures in 2025, there isn’t any doubt that it has been yet one more 12 months crammed with reboots and sequels. From 28 Years Later and Closing Vacation spot Bloodlines, to I Know What You Did Final Summer season and M3GAN 2.0, franchise hits have been in all places, and we’re not achieved but. Nevertheless, whereas these all managed to scare up huge field workplace {dollars}, there may be one reboot that fizzled lengthy earlier than it even had an opportunity, however now it is discovering redemption on streaming due to Prime Video.
Launched on Jan. 17, 2025, Wolf Man confirmed a lot promise on paper. It had an attention-grabbing hook, some implausible actors, the backing of Blumhouse and Common, and a reliable director in Leigh Whannell, whose reboot of The Invisible Man in 2020 was an enormous hit. There was no motive to assume that Wolf Man can be something apart from a box-office smash, however, sadly, it barely made again its finances of $25 million, taking in simply $35.3 million in receipts.
A variety of elements performed into Wolf Man‘s field workplace demise, not the least of which was a advertising and marketing misstep a number of months previous to its launch when one of many movie’s creature designs was revealed at Common’s Halloween Horror Nights attraction. It was completely torn aside on-line by followers who questioned all the things concerning the film from that time ahead, which little doubt affected its efficiency. Whereas the trailers tried to earn again some good will by presenting it as a chilling mixture of physique horror and household drama, it sadly wasn’t sufficient to convey the naysayers again.
‘Wolf Man’ Did not Ship What Its Identify Promised
A January launch did not precisely assist issues a lot both, nor did phrase of mouth. As soon as the movie lastly premiered, and it started to unfold that the reboot lacked the identical pressure and suspense that made The Invisible Man so good, of us that have been on the fence about seeing it determined to remain away.
You possibly can’t actually blame them, both. Once you title your film Wolf Man, there is a sure stage of expectation that comes with that due to the sturdy legacy the title holds, and sadly, Whannell’s efforts fell flat of their execution. It was extra an exploration of generational trauma than it was a werewolf film within the traditional sense of the time period, and audiences weren’t having it. It eliminated the supernatural underpinnings that had been used for generations in favor of presenting lycanthropy as a virus as a substitute of a supernatural curse, and that trendy twist failed to attach with viewers on the lookout for a extra conventional story. One can not help however marvel if the model that when had Ryan Gosling hooked up to it will have fared significantly better, but it surely definitely could not have been worse.
Referred to as “meaningless, foolish and inconsiderate” by some and “cringey and awkward” by others, Wolf Man holds an viewers rating of simply 55% on Rotten Tomatoes, whereas its essential score sits even decrease at 48%. Nonetheless, regardless of all of the negativity surrounding it, Wolf Man has managed to claw its manner again to redemption on Prime Video, the place it now sits at #5 on the checklist of Prime 10 motion pictures in the USA per Flix Patrol, sandwiched in between Jason Statham’s Wrath of Man, and one other, extra profitable reboot, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Wolf Man
3
/5
- Launch Date
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January 15, 2025
- Runtime
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103 minutes
- Director
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Leigh Whannell