The 'Invisible Man' writer-director talks about tackling another Universal horror icon for a horror movie reflecting the anxieties of COVID.

For the entirety of Leigh Whannell's screenwriting career, the horror veteran has shown the gift of being able to make audiences cower in terror inside a darkened movie theater, and then, come back for more.

“Wolf Man” then jumps ahead 30 years, to adult Blake (Christopher Abbott) out in a busy San Francisco enjoying daddy-daughter time with young Ginger (Matilda Firth). Like his father, he is very protective of his child, scolding her for not getting down from a construction structure she walks atop the moment he tells her to do so.

The 2025 movie calendar is off to a slow start, with many late 2024 releases still dominating the box office. Leigh Whannell’s horror film Wolf Man hopes to join Den of Thieves 2: Pantera at the top of the weekend’s box office when it opens on January 17th, but judging by the mixed reviews from critics, it’s unclear how likely that’ll be.

Leigh Whannell tempers the scares in Wolf Man, but ups the family melodrama, offering a tragedy in the classic Universal Monster tradition.

Wolf Man writer and director Leigh Whannell shares the difference between directing Julia Garner and Christopher Abbott for the Universal monster horror. Q: How did you change your directing style between directing Julia and Christopher?