Directed by Josh Ruben and written by Mishna Wolff, Werewolves Within is an upcoming horror-comedy film adapted from the Ubisoft video game of the same name. Following a similar premise to the game, the movie is set in the town of Beaverfield, where a mysterious creature has been terrorizing its residents. Soon, the small-town residents become snowed-in at a local inn and both paranoia and claustrophobia sets in as the citizens suspect there is a werewolf hidden amongst them. With tensions high, it's up to one ranger to solve the case.
Through the Ubisoft Women's Fellowship, Wolff received the chance to adapt the game to a feature film. Coming from a background in comedy, Wolff used her humorist skills to adapt Red Storm Entertainment's 2016 title for the big screen. In an interview with CBR, Wolff discussed the process of crafting a captivating whodunnit story while balancing comedy and horror and shared advice for how women writers can break into the gaming world.
CBR: What was it that attracted you to this project?
Mishna Wolff: I was in the Ubisoft Women's Fellowship. It's a paid fellowship where you're able to explore Ubisoft titles for adaptation material and all their IP. I looked at a bunch of Ubisoft titles and had a couple of ideas for movies based on games. This is the one, though, that really kept me up at night. I kept thinking, "It could be this or what about this? We could put it in the modern-day and these could be the divisions of the town."
I think the idea of private justice really sparked with me. And essentially, that's what this movie's about. It's about a small town taking justice into their own hands -- and what could go wrong [laughs].
What's your strategy when approaching a whodunnit story?
I think the thing that I really was meshing was the whodunnit with the horror genre. The horror genre usually has an original sin of some sort and the whodunnit usually has the first body. It was an interesting task for me to try to interweave these two genres and contextualize the viewer to make them feel like, "I'm in good hands. I know what I'm watching." And then, totally upend that [laughs].
It was a couple of drafts. Ubisoft was super duper collaborative and supportive all the way through. They really believed in this movie since its inception. They loved the concept and they were really super safe. It was a very safe space to be creative. We played with it until we got it right. Then Josh [Ruben] came on and he added his magic. Then the cast came on, and they added their great adlibs and their wonderful facial expressions. This movie is filled with fantastic facial expressions. I think the product is something really fun but also really relevant.
While there's a fairly big cast, the audience primarily lives the experience through Sam Richardson's character. Not only did he do an excellent job, but his character is so endearing. How did you settle on the Ranger as the main POV?
It was always going to be a ranger. I talked to Fish and Game as well because I thought it would be interesting if it was Fish and Game. But it had to be somebody who had some authority and yet did not necessarily feel like he had a command of the situation.
Obviously, the ranger has some authority. He is a law enforcement officer, but with a character that is struggling with his own sense of confidence and command in his life. A ranger just sort of fit the bill really well. I happened to be reading an autobiography of a ranger at the time [laughs]. I just thought it would be a fun lead for a snowed-in movie.
In that same vein, was there a character that was the most fun to write?
Joaquin was a great character to write always. In my draft, Joaquin was significantly younger than his husband. Obviously, the Michaela Watkins character, Trish, was great fun to write. Cecily's also a fun character. She's really witty and smart and cool. She was just a lot of fun to write.
They all have their charm. Janine is always the victim, always put upon, and that's an extraordinarily fun character to write as well. Michael Chernus' character, Pete, is a little leary and grabby, and he's fun too. Don't make me pick [laughs]! Don't make me pick my babies.
After watching the film with all the bells and whistles. Is there a scene you're most proud of with how your idea transferred to the screen?
I really liked how the hand-eating sequence sort of worked out. I was really happy about that and the body on the porch stuff. I thought that came out really well. There's a shot with everybody in it and I thought that played nicely. I split the pact in a lot of other ways, but everyone's in that shot and they're all reacting to this body on the porch. I think it really lands well.
For me, the scene where Finn throws the teacup and gives his speech about what [they] owe each other and being a community, I was really proud of that. That was part of the movie from the very beginning. The movie is sort of built around that and him just not being able to handle all the conflict in the room and everyone's contentiousness with each other and just reacting to that. I thought that turned out really well. I also like all the stuff with the guns. It's funny [laughs].
You have a background in comedy, but this is your first delve into horror. Was there a challenge that surprised you when combining the two genres?
Yeah. Things changed a little bit when Josh came on and when Vanishing Angle came on because there were budgetary considerations and Josh had changes he made too. But I think the biggest thing you learn is when you break the tension with comedy, you break the tension. So, anytime I injected a joke into something, if there was any suspense, it was [snaps fingers] broken.
It's a balancing act. If you want suspense, you can't throw a joke in there. And I kind of want to put a joke in everything. There is some restraint involved in creating tension as well.
What do you think fans of the video game will be most excited about?
I think the feel of the video game is really the beating heart of this film. It's really about six people sitting around a fire -- I can't remember how many people it is actually [laughs] -- coming to illogical conclusions about who the werewolf is and how to smoke him out. I think fans of the video game will definitely see the video game, especially in the middle part of the movie.
I'm sure you're well aware of the harmful stereotype about women gamers and how some assume gaming's a "boys club." Do you have any advice for women interested in getting into the gaming world, whether through writing as you did or another avenue?
Yeah! I've had a really positive experience in the gaming world. I've written for video games now as well. I've been a character model for video games. I consume a lot of things in and around games. I would say don't make your gamer tag obviously female [laughs]. That's my advice. Make your gamer tag really ambiguous.
You're right. It does bring out some "yuckos," but I think -- certainly at Ubisoft, and I'm sure at a lot of the other companies -- there's an appetite for a female point of view in gaming.
Directed by Josh Ruben and written by Mishna Wolff, Werewolves Within stars Sam Richardson, Milana Vayntrub, George Basil, Sarah Burns, Michael Chernus, Catherine Curtin, Wayne Duvall, Harvey Guillén, Rebecca Henderson, Cheyenne Jackson, Michaela Watkins and Glenn Fleshler. The film premiers in theaters on June 25 and VOD on July 2.
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