Ryan Gosling set to play Wolfman in upcoming reboot for Universal

Remember the Dark Universe? It's hard to forget Universal's ill-fated revamp of their iconic monsters series. However, while the studio may have abandoned plans for a shared universe, they are pressing ahead with bringing back some of their most fondly remembered properties.

Following the success of The Invisible Man, next up for the reboot treatment is Wolfman, which is being developed as a starring vehicle for Ryan Gosling. Variety reports that Universal has begun meeting with directors and that Cory Finley – who recently won positive reviews for Bad Education – is said to be frontrunner. No decision has yet been made.

The trade-press publication notes that the new version of Wolfman is believed to be set in present times and will be akin to Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller Nightcrawler but with a sci-fi twist. Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo – best known for writing Netflix's Orange is the New Black – have penned the script, the idea for which was originally pitched by Gosling.

Wolfman is the latest Universal monster to be brought back by the studio. A new Dracula movie is currently in development with director Karyn Kusama, while Paul Feig has been working on Dark Army, which will bring together multiple new and old monsters. James Wan is also set to produce a Frankenstein movie. None of these are set to be interconnected – the priority is now on auteur-driven work rather than creating a Dark Universe.

Meanwhile, Gosling is heading to space once more, portraying an astronaut in Phil Lord and Chris Miller's adaptation of The Martian author Andy Weir’s next novel. There's currently no word on which of the two projects will get before cameras first.

Jack Shepherd is the former Senior Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar. Jack used to work at The Independent as a general culture writer before specializing in TV and film for the likes of GR+, Total Film, SFX, and others. You can now find Jack working as a freelance journalist and editor.