Netflix Is Developing an Adaptation of THE HOWLING With IT Director Andy Muschietti
According to a new report, Netflix is set to produce an adaptation of the classic 1977 Gary Brandner horror novel The Howling, which was previously adapted into a film in 1981 by director Joe Dante. The news comes from The Hashtag Show who also says that the film will be directed by It and It: Chapter 2 director Andy Muschietti.
The director himself confirmed the news during a panel he was moderating for the cast of Underwater. I loved what Muschietti did with the It films, and I think that he could something fun with The Howling. While the original version of The Howling was a great movie and I’m a fan of it, it will be interesting to see a different take on the source material from a director like Muschietti. The original film was loosely based on the novel so maybe this will be more of a proper adaptation.
Muschietti previously said that he wanted to remake The Howling, so it looks like he put in the work and effort to make it happen. The story for the previous film followed a Los Angeles TV journalist named Karen White (Dee Wallace) who is traumatized after aiding the police in their arrest of a serial murderer. Her doctor ends up recommending that she attend an isolated psychiatric retreat. But while Karen is undergoing therapy, she learns that the residents turn out to be werewolves.
As for the book, the main character Karyn Beatty suffers "a traumatic attack and subsequent nervous breakdown. To recuperate she heads to the peaceful little California village of Drago to escape the savagery of the city. On the surface Drago appeared to be like most small rural towns. But it was not. The village had a most unsavory history. Unexplained disappearances, sudden deaths. People just vanished, never to be found. While there she discovers the inhabitants aren’t what they appear to be… they are werewolves and they have to fight to survive.”
Muschietti is also currently set to direct DC’s upcoming film The Flash. What do you think about Andy Muschietti directing a new adaptation of The Howling for Netflix?