David Hayter To Direct Wolves

David Hayter, writer of X-Men, co-writer of Watchmen and the voice of Solid Snake in the Metal Gear Solid games, has been close to claiming the director's chair more than once. He was in line to helm Watchmen at one point, and almost got a Black Widow film off the ground long before the character was incorporated into Iron Man 2.

Now, Hayter is finally set to direct a film: he's making a picture for lycanthrope enthusiasts called Wolves.

Deadline reports on the deal, quoting Hayter saying that the film is like "Twilight with a bit more bite to it, and without abstinence." The Twilight comparison is deliberate — Deadline says that Wolves finds a way to make werewolf mythology "a metaphor for a teen maturing sexually into adulthood, at the age when young men howl at the moon."

As I just said to Brendon over IM while talking about this story, I don't know how to view Hayter. Is he a real talent, or a well-connected enthusiast who has almost grabbed the brass ring a few times? I haven't yet seen or read anything that says, "yeah, this guy's really got it," but I've also yet to see copious proof to the contrary.

It's easy to look askance at Hayter thanks to his long association with the overly silly Metal Gear Solid games, but he doesn't write those. He did write X-Men, but taking screenplay credit for that means taking credit for the "do you know what happens to a toad when it is struck by lightning?" line. (EDIT: I'm reminded that Joss Whedon actually wrote that line — my mistake for picking on one of the couple bits from the film that Hayter didn't write.) I am a fan of some of the changes made to Watchmen, if not of the overall script. I like that Hayter is starting off as a director with his own material, however.

Hayter and his producer Benedict Carver are also working on the TV version of the Chris Evans film Push, thanks to a two-year deal with E1 entertainment. We've talked about that deal before, and there isn't any new detail to offer at this point.