The Howling Remake Coming From It Director

In not entirely surprising news, director Andy Muschietti may get his wish: a remake of The Howling. Obviously unafraid of playing in the sandboxes already defined by previous cult classics—like Stephen King’s It—it was while promoting the second half of that King adaptation that the director revealed he’d love to remake The Howling.

We were there at the pre-San Diego Comic-Con event, Scare Diego, where Muschietti and the It Chapter Two cast were asked if there’s any movie they wouldn’t want to be involved in remaking. Instead of offering a negative response, Muschietti said he’s always wanted to remake The Howling. Almost instantaneously rumors abounded that he would remake it, though he never got further publicly than hearing Bill Hader agree the idea would be “rad.” Yet it now appears to be happening, as Deadline reports that Muschietti is in “early talks” with Netflix to film a remake.

The Howling is an essential werewolf movie that often gets overlooked due to opening the same year as that other 1981 werewolf classic, An American Werewolf in London. Nonetheless, The Howling enjoys its own well-groomed pedigree, having been directed by Joe Dante and featuring a much more original premise about a big city television journalist (Dee Wallace before she was the mom in E.T.) surviving an encounter with a serial killer she swears was transforming into something. She then tracks his history to a rustic commune that is more sinister than it appears.

Muschietti has a knack for unpacking sinister communities with a secret. It was the heart of his two films It and It Chapter Two, both of which are among the highest grossing R-rated movies of all time. While the first film was better received by critics and audiences, both are celebrated for their emphasis on human characters in a supernatural setting—and for casting choices like Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

However, it is a mystery where this project might leave Muschietti’s current status as the latest director to have signed onto The Flash movie. Warner Bros. tapped him for the job in July 2019, but we have heard little about the film since. The Flash is currently scheduled for a July 1, 2022 release, so assuming he stays on that troubled project, it may be a while before we see The Howling.

David Crow is the Film Section Editor at Den of Geek. He’s also a member of the Online Film Critics Society. Read more of his work here. You can follow him on Twitter @DCrowsNest.