Word has come down through Cinemusic that Danny Elfman’s music won’t be what you’ll hear when you see The Wolfman next February, despite him already composing his score. Instead we’ll be hearing a score by Paul Halsinger, who has composed films like Underworld, Crank and Death Race. It seems that with continued changes to The Wolfman in the post-production phase, and possibly studio interference, Elfman won’t be available to finish the film.
I have mixed feelings about this. To start with, I think The Wolfman looks pretty sweet, and I really hope its turns out well. I haven’t been impressed with a Danny Elfman score in a long time. Generally, it seems like he’s been rejiggering a few scores from earlier in his career over and over again. (I swear, listen to the Spider-Man theme and tell me it’s not just a mash-up of his themes for Batman and Men in Black.) On the other hand, director Joe Johnston really believed in his work and said he’d just let Elfman cut loose. And as Cinemusic says, the score that Elfman composed is apparently “a traditional, grandly gothic effort a la Kilar’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” which seems to be exactly the sort of music to fit this film. Meanwhile, Paul Halsinger has historically writen more electronically-tinged scores, so is that an indication of the new direction? I’m not sure I want a period werewolf film like The Wolfman to feature a more modern soundscapes. Of course, maybe Halsinger won’t take that path anyway. I hope whoever is calling the shots at this point knows what they’re doing.
However this turns out, it’s another odd occurrence for a film that’s been delayed three times, and will hit theaters just a couple weeks shy of two years after shooting began. The whole thing is just a bit unnerving when the film was supposed to be released back in April.
The Wolfman is scheduled for release on February 12th, 2010.
