Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man Design Was Inspired by Heath Ledger’s Joker

Plus, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 confirms a new animatronic, V/H/S will return for another volume next year, and the second season of Goosebumps riffs on Don’t Go in the Basement.

Wolf Man

During a recent interview with Screen Rant, Leigh Whannell revealed his unorthodox werewolf design in the upcoming Wolf Man remake was inspired by Heath Ledger’s Joker.

It was tough. It was weird, because it was exactly as you said, there’s been so many versions of this. I lined up all the different versions, I had a PDF of everyone from Lon Chaney to David Norton in American Werewolf, The Howling, Dog Soldiers. I had every look in front of me, and I’m kind of staring at it, and I’m like, “All right, so where do I fit in?” You know what a big inspiration to me was, was Heath Ledger’s version of the Joker. Not so much in terms of look, but I had a photo of him on my desk as the Joker because I really love what they did there with the character.

They stayed true to what the Joker is, but they just took it [to another level]. You hadn’t seen that version of the Joker before. Not at that time. People still love it. Do you remember when they first released that image of his face with that one sheet? Social media was not as crazy in 2008 as it is now, but I remember Twitter exploded. It was like, “Is that the Joker?” I find that so inspirational what they did with that character and how they approached it. And I was thinking [about] if I can take their approach to Wolf Man, and I think I did. So that document I had with all the different photos of all the different Wolf Men, when I put my version of it, it didn’t look like any of them. And I was like, “Ooh.”

Credit doesn’t even go to me. It goes to Arjen Tuiten, the makeup artist. I found him and I said, “I want to show you a photo, but I can’t. I want to see something.” He made a model. We were talking a lot, I was telling him what I wanted, and he’s like, “I think I know what you mean. Let me go.” And he ended up making this model of the creature on the ground. He actually built, like, half of a barn, almost like something you would see out on the floor here for sale. It was like a barn with hay on the ground and there’s this creature lying there. It was like this big.

And I was just staring at it for the first time, and I was like, “That’s it. It just looked perfect.” Do you know what? I never had any notes. I was like, “That’s it, that’s what we should do.” It doesn’t [happen often]. Usually in L.A., in Hollywood, it’s like, “Can we change this?” S–t, every screenplay I’ve written has just been absolutely inundated with notes. But when I saw the maquette, the model that Arian had made, I was like, “There’s no notes I can give you that would [improve this]” – I just was like, “Just do this.”

The Monster

Deadline reports Djimon Hounsou is attached to star in The Monster, a new horror film from Darren Lynn Bousman concerning “two millennials” who “make quick money by leasing incredible New York City apartments they don’t own to people who don’t know they are being scammed. The con works brilliantly until they run into an apartment owner with a dark secret who flips the game on them.”

American Psycho

Variety also reports Luca Guadagnino will direct a “new adaptation” of Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho from a script by Scott Z. Burns. According to the outlet, it “will not be a remake of the 2000 film” written and directed by Mary Harron with Guinevere Turner, “but a new adaptation of Ellis’ novel.”

V/H/S/8

Fangoria reports an eighth film in the V/H/S franchise is now scheduled for an unspecified 2025 release date.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

A new poster for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 confirms an appearance by Toy Freddy.

1 more week remaining until Blumhouse’s ‘FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2’ starts filming.

Filming begins on October 27th, 2024 and the film releases exclusively for theatres on December 5th, 2025. #FNAF #FNAFMovie #FiveNightsAtFreddys #FNAF2Movie pic.twitter.com/gevhyotp7H

— Fazbear Updates (@FazUpdates) October 20, 2024

Ash

After her crew is mysteriously slaughtered on an alien planet, Eiza González wonders if she can trust her rescuer, Aaron Paul, in the trailer for Ash.

Beyond the Wasteland

We also have a trailer for Beyond the Wasteland, another movie about kids allegedly living in the post-apocalypse warned by the domineering guardian not to stray too far, lest monsters eat them.

Superman & Lois

Spoiler TV has a synopsis for “A Perfectly Good Wedding,” the fourth episode of Superman & Lois‘s final season. Click through for more images.

©

THE EPISODE WAS DIRECTED BY GREGORY SMITH (“EVERWOOD,” “ROOKIE BLUE”) – The Kents struggle to adjust to their new normal. Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch) helps throw Kyle (Erik Valdez) and Chrissy (Sofia Hasmik) an impromptu wedding that doesn’t quite go as planned. Gregory Smith (“Everwood,” “Rookie Blue”) directed the episode written by George Kitson & Max Kronick (#404). Original airdate 10/21/2024.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon

Spoiler TV also has a short synopsis for “La Paradis Pour Toi,” the fourth episode of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon‘s second season. Images at the link.

All hope is lost amidst Genet’s attack on the Nest.

Krapopolis

Spoiler TV additionally has a synopsis for “Hades Nuts,” the third episode of Krapopolis season two.

Stupendous is at it again, making trips to the underworld to visit her old fling Prack. But this time, Hades is onto her. Tyrannis tries to teach Deliria and Shlub the value of human life in the all-new “Hades Nuts” episode of Krapopolis airing Sunday, October 20 (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (KRA-302) (TV-14 D,L,S,V)

Goosebumps: The Vanishing

Justin Long advises his kids to “Stay Out of the Basement” in the trailer for Goosebumps: The Vanishing. 

The Penguin

Finally, HBO has released a midseason trailer for The Penguin.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.