Please to the power of a thousand let this not be true. Aint It Cool is reporting that "an incredibly reliable source" has told them that Brett Ratner is the front runner to park his bum in the Wolf Man director's chair recently vacated by Mark Romanek. Now, this would be a bad idea for the following reasons.
- Ratner is not what you'd call a visionary. He can make something look pretty and slick or make a close fit of another director's style (see his work on X-Men 3 and Red Dragon, which visually imitated those who went before). He's perfectly capable of turning in a watchable movie, but a re-invention of this story needs some passion and a new way of looking at things. We should all be hoping for more than watchable.
- He's not an actors' director. You have an amazing cast here, Universal. Benicio Del Toro as the Wolf Man; Anthony Hopkins as his father; Emily Blunt as, well, we don't know, but she's great. Don't squander those incredible talents by asking them to just go through the motions. Last time Ratner worked with Hopkins the result was a camp and comedic Hannibal Lecter. Bad thing.
- Ratner can't do scary. See again Red Dragon, if you must.
- HE MADE RUSH HOUR 3!
Please Universal, we know this must be a panicked time, with your cast and crew all set to shoot and nobody to call the shots. But, please, take the time to think about this. We were incredibly excited about the film with Romanek at the controls, but this frightens us more than the movie possibly could. Please consider another director (the suggestion of Matt Reeves intrigued us) or make nice with Romanek. Let him have a nice big budget or send him a muffin basket. Everybody likes muffins.