Call it cynical. Call it Hollywood creative bankruptcy. Call it whatever you want. But “Teen Wolf” is back — whether you wanted it to be or not.
The campy 1985 Michael J. Fox flick generated $33 million in box office grosses and a sequel starring Jason Bateman. Sadly, it hasn’t exactly stood the test of time.
But with all the heat on vampires, MTV decided to attack werewolves, bringing the “Teen Wolf” concept into the 21st century. Jeff Davis, the executive producer best known for CBS’ sinister “Criminal Minds,” was happy to oblige.
“Taking an old brand doesn’t matter so much if that’s what’s gets things made on networks,” Davis said. And besides, much of the MTV audience wouldn’t even know about the original movie.
“It’s simply a great title,” Davis added. “You look back at Hitchcock. He said titles should be short and tell you exactly what it’s about. ‘Vertigo.’ ‘Psycho.’ ‘Teen Wolf.’ It works for me!”
Shot in metro Atlanta but set in a northern California town, “Teen Wolf” features Tyler Posey in Fox’s role. He plays an ordinary teen with asthma seeking a starting spot on the lacrosse team. Then he gets bitten and suddenly his senses are sharpened, his lacrosse skills become legion, and ladies come a callin’. Yes, he’s a werewolf, a “coming of age” metaphor any teen can identify with.
While the pilot has its fair share of snark, Davis said his template was more “Lost Boys” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” than the original film. As a result, it’s sharper and smarter, riding the charms of Posey and his best friend and partner in crime Stiles, played by Dylan O’Brien.
“We’ve talked about it as a reboot,” Davis said. “We should call it a remix. We’ve taken an old song and given it a new beat. It’s darker but it’s not morose [like the ‘Twilight’ films]. We wanted to have some fun.” (Example: a sly reference to MTV’s “Teen Mom.”)
So far, Davis said he’s pleasantly surprised by the positive reaction from critics. The first episode debuted Sunday night after the “MTV Movie Awards” for maximum sampling and returns in its regular time slot at 10 tonight.
Mostly shot in Conyers, it’s not far from the CW’s hit drama “The Vampire Diaries,” which features its fair share of werewolves.
Posey said he stayed in an apartment complex that housed many of the “Diaries” cast. “But we were both working such insane schedules,” he noted, “we barely saw each other. So there were no werewolf/vampire fights in the street!”
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