Universal didn’t seem to have a fun time making The Wolfman, which starred Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt and Anthony Hopkins. Mark Romanek (Never Let Me Go) bailed on directing due to “creative differences”, which lead Universal to hire Jurassic Park 3 director Joe Johnston less than a month before filming was scheduled to begin (Johnston later revealed he only took the job because he needed the money).

Production problems caused the movie to be pushed back several times, from November 2008 all the way back to February 2010, and the end result was a bashing from critics and only $140 million at the worldwide box office (the budget was $150 million). Now Universal may be about to try again by giving our hairy friend a reboot.

From Movie Hole:

Universal were considering doing a sequel to the recent – god awful – ”The Wolfman”, which featured Benicio del Toro as the sharp-clawed Talbot – that’s no longer the case. Michael Tabb’s script is being rewritten and reworked to be an original film – almost a reboot of the classic Universal monster movie series.

If anything, this new film – they’ve yet to decide on a title though I hear “Werewolf” is popular -will share a link to the original George Waggner film (from 1941) rather than Joe Johnston’s ill-fated 2009 remake.

The site goes on to say the movie is likely to start shooting later this year and the studio is talking to potential directors over the upcoming weeks. This reboot isn’t needed at all, but it may be worthwhile depending on the director.

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At least he’s honest. Back in 2008 Mark Romanek (Never Let Me Go) bailed on directing The Wolfman due to “creative differences”, which lead Universal to hire Jurassic Park 3 director Joe Johnston less than a month before filming was scheduled to begin.

Production problems caused the movie to be pushed back several times, from November 2008 all the way back to February 2010, and the end result was 33% on Rotten Tomatoes and only $140 million at the worldwide box office (the budget was $150 million). In a recent interview Johnston spoke about his time on the movie, and admits that money was a factor when taking on the job.

From CBM:

I had three weeks of prep on WOLFMAN, a ridiculously inadequate amount of time to try to bring together the fractured and scattered pieces of the production. I had taken the job mostly because I had a cash flow problem, the only time in my career I’ve ever let finances enter into the decision process. Money is always the wrong reason for doing something that requires passionate devotion. The production was a leaky, rudderless ship in a perfect storm suffering from bad decisions, infighting, reluctance of the powers-that-be to take responsibility, and too many under-qualified cooks in the kitchen. The good news and bad news about directing is that when the picture works you’re showered with all the credit and when it doesn’t work you’re dumped on with all the blame. Both scenarios are undeserved. I take full responsibility for THE WOLFMAN not working because it goes with the territory.

There were wonderful aspects of THE WOLFMAN experience. I inherited a crew that was the best of my experience, including a first assistant director without whom I could not have made it through the first two weeks. I had the immense pleasure of working with a cast that was as diverse and multifaceted as it could be. I rediscovered all that I love about London and its environs and I made some lifelong friends, on and off the crew.

In comparison Johnston says he had thirty weeks of prep on Captain America: The First Avenger, and with the help of “qualified, supportive, creative producers” and “the best designers, artists, sculptors, craftspeople” he has had “the most universally positive experience in this mad business.”

If Johnston delivers next July i’m sure people will forgot about his Wolfman mishap. Before The Wolfman Johnston’s last movie was Hidalgo in 2004, so I can understand why he decided to take on a movie he wasn’t 100% passionate about.

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As expected, Shutter Island had no trouble debuting in first place this weekend at the NA box office according to BoxOfficeMojo.

The DiCaprio-Scorsese flick opened with $41 million in 2991 theaters for an above average debut for the psychological R-rated thriller genre. This is the best opening weekend ever for both DiCaprio and Scorsese.

In second place falling like a rock from last weekend with 70.4% was Valentine’s Day with $16.6 million for a total of $86.9 million.

Avatar was a very close third with $16.2 million and a now total of $687.9 million to add to the staggering $2.46 billion it has made worldwide in just 10 weeks.

Percy Jackson was down 51.2% with $15.2 million for fifth place and a total of $58.7 million. With a $95 million budget and $126 million worldwide so far I’d say Percy Jackson is on the right track and we might even see a sequel if it doubles that number.

The Wolfman fell 68.6% to $9.8 million and a total of $50.3 million on a $150 million budget. Could have been worse but I think a few people down at Universal aren’t to happy about this one.

Dear John continues to drop fast and is now at $7.1 million for a $65.8 million total. At this point I don’t see Dear John beating The Notebook ($81 million) anymore as the highest grossing Nicholas Sparks adaptation.

On the other hand Tooth Fairy continues to drop slowly with $4.3 million and a total of $49.7 million.

Crazy Heart goes up one spot from 9th to 8th place in its third week in the top 10. $2.9 million and a total of $21.5 million means this movie is a platform success.

Finally From Paris with Love and The Edge of Darkness round up the top 10 with $2.6 million and $2.2 million. John Travolta and Mel Gibson won’t be too happy with these movies since they kind of bombed, $21.3 million on a $52 million budget for John and $40.3 million on a $80 million budget for Mel. I bet they miss the good old days.

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According to BoxOfficeMojo in NA Valentine’s Day won the weekend with $56.2 million and went on to make $63.1 million over the extended 4-day weekend (including Presidents’ Day on Monday). This was the biggest Presidents’ Day weekend and February opening on record surpassing even the most optimistic expectations. Obviously V day on Sunday helped this movie achieve such a  record ($23.3 million on that day alone).

For second place we have The Wolfman in a very close finish with Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lighting Thief, $31.4 million versus $31.2 million. If we take into account the full 4-day holiday weekend then Percy Jackson came in second with $38.6 million compared to $35.5 million for The Wolfman.

In forth place we have Avatar, two spots lower then last week but surprisingly 3.3% stronger with $23.6 million over the 3-day weekend and $28.7 million over the 4-day weekend totaling now $666.3 million in NA and after a 9th consecutive weekend in first place internationally with $59 million (for a total of $1.68 billion) this movie stands at $2.35 billion worldwide.

Dear John was good for fifth place with $16 million and a higher then expected 47.3% drop and $18.2 million over the 4-day weekend. This movie is at $56 million so far and that’s great for a flick with a $25 million budget.

Tooth Fairy was in 6th place and it keeps having surprisingly strong holds, only 8.7% drop for $6 million for the weekend and $8 million for the 4-day weekend, 43.9 million after 25 days.

In 7th and 8th place we have R rated disappointments From Paris with Love and Edge of Darkness with $5.4/6.3 million respectively $4.8/5.5 million for totals of $17.4 million ($52 million budget) and $37 million ($80 million budget).

For a second week in the top 10 we have Crazy Heart in 9th place with $4.2/4.9 million, 19.6% higher then last weekend and now standing at $17.5 million in total, very well for an independent movie with a $7 million budget.  Crazy Heart is still expanding in theaters so this is probably not the last week we’ll see it in the top 10.

And finally When in Rome in 10th place, $3.6/4.2 million and $26.8 million total.

This was the highest Presidents’ Day weekend ever with overall Friday-Monday box office coming in at close to $250 million, more then 10% higher then last year, the previous record holder.

The full 4-day Presidents’ Day weekend chart can be found here and right after this we have the normal weekend:

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UPDATE: Nikki Finke has estimated Friday numbers that putt my numbers to shame:

1. Valentine’s Day Friday $16.5M, estimated 4-day weekend $60M
2. Percy Jackson $10.5M, $50M
3. The Wolfman $10.5M, $35M
4. Avatar $4.8M, $24M
5. Dear John $4.5M, $19M

It seems I vastly underestimated the new releases but I also think some of those numbers are a little inflated, we’ll see in less then two days.

In the first corner we have Benicio Del Furry, in the second corner some troubled teenager that can control water and in the third (and final) corner we have some Valentine mash-up with enough actors for 10 movies. One of this three will win the Valentine weekend in NA and I will try to go over each one with all the pros and cons and maybe find out who that will be.

Warning, a long post is coming up, if you just want to see the numbers scroll all the way down.

Valentine’s Day opens in 3665 theaters this weekend and stars Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, Taylor Swift, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts and Julia Roberts. It is also directed by Garry Marshall (Pretty Women, Runaway Bride) and it’s missing Richard Gere. V Day has a mighty awful 15% tomato meter (15 fresh, 88 rotten), a running time of 125 minutes and a PG-13 rating.

So we have a big cast that has someone for everyone of all ages, the perfect release date with the perfect title, a very high theater count (that means the studio is sure it will make money) and a director with a lot of background in the genre, someone that knows what he’s doing. On the downside, based on what critics say it’s not a very good movie but really, the audience that this movie is aimed at doesn’t give a damn about reviews so that won’t hurt the opening weekend one bit. Then there’s the running time, about 15-25 minutes longer then the norm for the genre, but this will only affect a little the number of showings for the day (probably 5 instead of 6 a day).

With all of that said Valentine’s Day is looking the movie to beat this weekend, I predict $36 million for the 3-day weekend, $40 million for the 4-day holiday weekend.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lighting Thief opens in 3356 theaters and stars Logan Lerman, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Rosario Dawson, Uma Thurman and Steve Coogan. It’s based on the novel by Rick Riordan and is directed by Chris Columbus (first two Harry Potter movies). 49% on RottenTomatoes (37 fresh, 39 rotten) makes it the best reviewed out of the three. 119 minutes running time and a PG rating.

I have not read any of the novels in the Percy Jackson series so this is all a mystery for me, but the fans seem to like it, so that’s a plus. Cast is good, reviews are decent but again, they won’t matter to much for the opening weekend.

I say $27 million for the 3-day weekend and $30 million for the 4-day holiday weekend.

The Wolfman opens in 3222 theaters and stars Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, Anthony Hopkins and Hugo Weaving. Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park 3, Captain America in 2011) is the director and this is a remake of the classic 1941 The Wolf Man. 30% on RottenTomatoes (33/77) is on par with other genre pics so I personally wasn’t expecting a lot more then that. 102 minutes running time and an R rating will help the movie just as much as it will hurt it.

The very troubled production and numerous delays will not help The Wolfman, a movie that was more suited for a Halloween release date then a Valentine’s Day one.

The Wolfman will probably suffer the most and open with about $22 million for the 3-day weekend and $25 million for the 4-day holiday weekend.

Three major motion pictures with very wide releases and somewhat high expectations from their studios, all released during a holiday weekend, a very crowded holiday weekend.

The top 5 should look like this (4-day holiday weekend):

1. Valentine’s Day (WB) $36M ($40M)
2. Percy Jackson (Fox) $27M ($30M)
3. The Wolfman (Uni) $22M ($25M)
4. Avatar (Fox) $18M ($22M)
5. Dear John (Sony) $17M ($20M)

Post in the comments your top 5 and in 2 days we will see who was closer to the real results.

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The movie that has taken literally years to get here has finally reached that stage in the marketing process where TV spots are released. We have three of them embedded below:

The Wolfman will be released on February 12th and stars Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro and Hugo Weaving.

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The fact that The Wolfman has been pushed back 3 or 4 times doesn’t fill many people with confidence (it’s original release date was November 2008), however the recent trailers have been pretty good and we learned last week that it has been given an R-rating in the US which was encouraging.

One of the people who has probably been waiting for the films release more than anyone is Emily Blunt. It’s her first outing as lead female in a big budget film so the delays must have been frustration. She recently spoke to Shock Till You Drop about the delays, and she seem to be keeping things positive:

“I think with a film like that, because there are special effects and it’s a big movie, you can’t accelerate its release date,” she explained to Shock Till You Drop this afternoon, offering a culinary analogy. “It’s not fair and so I think it just needed some more time. They needed to cook a little bit more. But the film is so good, so I’m really happy that they waited and I think it’s the best time for people to see it. This fall is all about the awards seasons and all of that, so I don’t know if it’s that kind of film. It’s not. It’s a werewolf movie.”

“It’s a brilliant…more of a throwback to the old Lon Chaney films and it’s classic and gothic and eerie but I don’t think it competes with the slasher movies in that way because I think it’s better. I did my job, they loved the movie so, I almost feel this is the best time because I feel like more people are going to see it in February anyway.”

Assuming Universal don’t perform any last minute scheduled changes The Wolfman will be hitting the big screen on the 12th February.

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Good news for horror fans. According to /Film the MPAA have reviewed The Wolfman and have given it an R rating, deeming it unsuitable for anyone under the age of 17 as it contains “bloody horror, violence and gore.” This is a good move by Universal as there were fears they would dilute it to a PG-13. It’s also a brave move as they could potentially make less money because of this rating.

We’ll let them worry about the money and we can just focus on seeing, what could be, one of the best horror movies in 2010. Lets hope so anyway, as director Joe Johnston will soon be working on Captain America and we don’t want that movie to detail The Avengers.

The Wolfman stars Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro and Hugo Weaving, and will be released next February.

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Universal has released a new featurette which gives us a better understanding of the story behind The Wolfman. It begins by showing clips of The Mummy, Dracula, Frankenstein and other classic monster movies from the black and white era, and then Benico del Toro talks us though the story for this modern take on the “iconic” Wolfman, which will introduce the beast to “a new generation”.

We also see Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt discussing the film, along with some new footage.

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Today Apple debuted a new trailer for Universal’s remake of The Wolfman. This trailer is quite different to the first one we got as it’s just a montage of scenes, whereas the teaser was your typical trailer which set up the story and characters. As we are moving closer to it’s February release date the visuals are nearing completion and some scenes look bad ass. Watch below!

The Wolfman stars Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro and Hugo Weaving, and is directed by Jurassic Park 3 director Joe Johnston.

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