I didn’t update the site all weekend, as I took a trip to London and had no internet connection. I had just taken a visit down the River Thames and got off at a place called Greenwhich. There I noticed that things looked a bit out of place. There were old signs, carts and fruit stalls dotted around everywhere. My group was then told that the place was being prepared for a night shoot, for a movie called The Wolfman. As soon as I heard that I whipped my camera out and started taking pictures, which you can see below. None of the actors were on set, as it was a night shoot, but it was still cool.

Unfortunately, I was in a group and had to move on, but it appears someone else also visited the set and took a truckload of pictures. Click here to see them!

Empire got a chance to speak to The Wolfman producer Scott Stuber. He talks about why they released images of Benicio Del Toro as the Wolfman so early, how closely they are keeping to the 1941 original, the filming, the cast, the change in director and the possibility of future monster movies. Here is a preview:

Does having Rick Baker mean that all Wolfman effects will be physical, rather than CG?

We really want to stick to the physical stuff. So much of what we’re trying to accomplish is that when Benicio is the wolf, you really know it’s Benicio Del Toro and you have the eyes and the emotion of what he is. That way you don’t disassociate your emotion and you realise that the person, Lawrence Talbot, who you’ve got to know in the daytime is still Lawrence Talbot at night. That way you’re empathetic towards him, you’re angry towards him, you feel for him. You wouldn’t get that with a completely CG creature who you disassociate from Benicio Del Toro. There will inevitably be some CG work to help with some of the transformation, but it’s a Rick Baker-centric film and that’s what we wanted from the get-go.

For the whole interview click here!

Entertainment Weekly have got a rather cool first look at Benicio Del Toro as The Wolfman! Last week we got images of him on set, but now we have official images, and they are amazing! Rick Baker is a genius! Looking at these images made me wet myself thrice, so beware!

Amazing!

You can read an interview with the person responsible for my nightmares tonight, by clicking here!

Bauer Griffin Online have got the first look at Benicio Del Toro on the set of Wolfman. They are currently filming in London and Del Toro looks like he could do with a bath. Caution: Image contains fake blood.

Joe Johnston is directing and you will be able to see more blood and filth when it is released next May.

The man with one of the coolest CV’s in the world will be joining Benico del Toro, Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt in The Wolf Man. Hugo Weaver has acted in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, The Matrix trilogy, V For Vendetta and has done voice work in Transformers as Megatron and Happy Feet as…a penguin. When The Wolf Man is eventually released next February, it will be the first time we have actually seen Hugo Weavers face on the big screen in years. Weaving will play Det. Aberline, who will no doubt be chasing after Benico del Toro to figure out why the hell he is turning into a Wolfman.

Filming will start next month in London.

After a good few days of speculation as to who would be taking over from Mark Romanek as director, it has been announced that Joe Johnston will be taking the reigns. The Hollywood Reporter say that Mark Romanek’s departure was due to budget conflicts. There were rumours that Cloverfield director Matt Reeves may take over, or even X-Men 3 director Brett Ratner. However it seems Universal have settled with Jurassic Park 3 director Joe Johnston. The film stars Benicio del Toro, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt and production is expected to begin at Pinewood Studios next month.

I am not too familiar with Johnstons work, however I enjoyed the third Jurassic Park film, and I suppose it could be worse. Brett Ratner could have got the job.

Less than a day ago we told you about Mark Romanek’s decision to leave The Wolf Man due to creative differences. We also told you that Universal were hoping to get a director quickly. Well, according to AICN they have got a replacement very quickly! Can anyone remember the year 2005, when Matthew Vaughn dropped out of directing X-Men 3, weeks before filming was to being, and then within weeks FOX got Brett Ratner to direct. Well if AICN speak the truth then history may be repeating itself. It seems Brett Ratner is the guy you get when your director leaves at inconvenient times. I echo Harry Knowles’s thoughts by saying that Ratner can make movies that are entertaining and make money. He has proved that with the Rush Hour movies. But Ratner lacks the drama side of things. X-Men 3 was rushed to an extent that you didn’t actually care about the characters. But then again that could be the script.

When I think of The Wolf Man, I imagine similar settings to the recent Sweeney Todd, set in old London. Everything is a bit dark and murky. It is basically a dark drama with the odd bit of action. But when I imagine Ratners version, the women’s corsets suddenly become much tighter around the waist, thrusting the chest upwards. The films run time drops by 45 minutes and the trailer makes it out to be totally different to what we eventually get.

I’ll keep reminding myself this is a rumour until anything is confirmed. If it does turn out to be true, Ratner may surprise us and I know he is a good director for picking things up from where people left them. Time will tell.

This news is rather unexpected. Just last week we had got news that rising star Emily Blunt had joined The Wolf Man. Now, Variety are reporting that director Mark Romanek has dropped out of the project, with filming expected to start mid February. The reason? ‘Creative Differences’. The film has had Benicio Del Toro on board for a while, with Anthony Hopkins joining a couple of months ago and more recently, Emily Blunt joining as the main female lead. Universal say they expect to get another directed attached quickly, with the February start date still their goal.

I don’t really know what went on as those details haven’t been released, but directors leaving movies when they are just about to film is just annoying. The Wolf Man would have been Romanek’s biggest film to date, so he must not have been happy with something for him to leave. The film was set to be released in December this year, but depending on whether Universal can get a director or not, that may not happen.

The movie is set in Victorian England where Benicio Del Toro plays an American who returns England, and is bitten by a werewolf. The Oscar winning make-up artist behind An American Werewolf in London had been hired to recreate some of his werewolf awesomeness, which you can see in the picture above.

Earlier we reported that Benicio Del Toro was unsure whether Anthony Hopkins would be involved with The Wolf Man, contracts still needed to be signed and things needed to be worked out. However, MTV have now confirmed that Anthony Hopkins will star alongside Del Toro in the remake. He will play Sir John Talbot, father to Del Toro’s Lawrence Talbot, the character who becomes afflicted with the werewolf curse. The film is expected to be release sometime in 2009.

ComingSoon.net has got a huge list of the films and there updated starting dates. Movie Studios are pushing movies forward to escape the possible Writers Guild, Directors Guild and Screen Actors Guild strikes. Here’s a shortened list of films we care about!

BOND 22 7th January 2008
DRAGON BALL Z Fall/Autumn 2008
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL 3rd December 2007
WOLVERINE 7th November 2007
MAGNETO 1st January 2008
WOLFMAN 28th January 2008
JUSTICE LEAGUE 11th February 2008

I am actually excited. Wolverine is starting next month, with Magneto starting a few months later. James Bond is also returning, following on from the great Casino Royal. This strike actually has some positive sides!