Toby Wilkins Talks MTV’s Teen Wolf Series
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Director Toby Wilkins may be best known to genre fans as the mastermind behind movies including Splinter and The Grudge 3, but he recently took his career in a new direction and helmed a trio of episodes of MTV’s newest genre show, “Teen Wolf”, and the first of his three episodes kicks off tonight.
Recently Dread Central had the opportunity to chat with Wilkins about his experiences working on “Teen Wolf,” why diehard fans of the original classic film shouldn’t be so quick in dismissing the new series as a direct remake and just what’s up with the Splinter sequel that so many of us are dying to see.
Wilkins discussed how his longtime friend Jeff Davis (“Teen Wolf” series creator) was integral to getting the director involved with the series and why working on “Teen Wolf” appealed to him on a creative level. “I’ve known Jeff a long time, for about ten years now actually, and we’ve always wanted to find something cool to work on. Then Teen Wolf came along, and he brought me on to direct episodes four through six, and it was definitely great to get this opportunity.”
“The one thing MTV is known for is pushing boundaries, and up until very recently horror had been missing from the airwaves so I think the timing for Teen Wolf is absolutely perfect right now, and I know that for myself I would want to see this show if I was flipping through the channels. Serialized television has a cinematic feel to it these days, and I think that’s what is contributing to this movement of bringing real horror back to the small screen. There’s definitely a grander playing field for the genre than what used to exist,” added Wilkins.
Wilkins knew going into the project that there might be some uproar from the purists out there who would be dismissive of a televised update of the 80’s comedy Teen Wolf, and he talked about how the show itself isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, but rather is trying to give today’s audiences a new spin on the classic story.
“I love the original Teen Wolf, and nothing we are doing with this series can change how magical that movie was,” explained Wilkins. “But audience’s sensibilities change over the years, and there’s still a great concept lurking in that movie that was a perfect story to be updated for today’s viewers. The concept works amazingly well as a serialized television drama, too, and I think making the story a little edgier and darker than the film was elevates everything. The storylines created are going to keep audiences guessing every single week, and there are going to be a lot of twists and turns along the way.”
Speaking of twists and turns, for anyone following “Teen Wolf” you’ll note that last week’s episode is definitely a game-changer of sorts (Disclaimer: If you haven’t seen last week’s episode and still intend to, you may want to stop reading now because things may get too spoiler-y for you from here on in Wilkins’ interview), and Wilkins discussed what fans can expect going into tonight’s episode.
“Episode four is when everything in Teen Wolf changes and suddenly audiences are now faced with a huge mystery- a ‘whodunit’ so to speak,” said Wilkins. “I think it was very clever of Jeff to take the story in this new direction because audiences will be trying to get to the bottom of the mysteries unfolding alongside the characters. This episode is also where Scott really realizes just how much his relationship with Allison is like Romeo and Juliet and has one of the most awkward dinner scenes ever between Scott, Allison and her dad, which should be fun for fans of the series to watch.”
Beyond just the mystery aspect to the story of “Teen Wolf,” audiences were also introduced to a new mythology to the idea of werewolf hierarchies, and Wilkins explained where that idea stemmed from. “I know Jeff did a lot of research into wolf packs and animal hierarchies so I think that’s where the idea of making Alpha werewolves and Beta werewolves came from. But it also makes a lot of sense, too, in terms of how human beings relate to each other in society – there are always leaders and followers, or Alphas and Betas if you will. So this mythology works on a lot of different levels.”
Wilkins also mentioned that for his Splinter fans out there, he incorporated a few things into tonight’s episode that they will definitely appreciate.
“Fans of Splinter should tune in to tonight’s episode for some tip of the hat moments to that movie I made sure to include. There is some stuff at the beginning of the episode as well as the end, and there may be a casting surprise in there, too. Who knows just what you’ll catch while watching,” teased Wilkins.
Speaking of Splinter, we asked Wilkins if there has been any movement on getting a sequel to his 2009 creature feature up and running yet. ”There have been talks but there’s no news really. There’s no good news, no bad news, just no news yet. But I do have a story idea that’s ready to go if I get the opportunity to ever move forward.”
Wilkins added, “I have to keep a lot of what I’m looking to do in the future under wraps right now, but I will say that doing Teen Wolf has introduced me to the world of working in television and I may pursue more TV-based projects. I do still have a few feature scripts that I’m still developing too so I do intend to still continue working in feature films though.”
Look for Wilkin’s first “Teen Wolf” episode tonight, June 20, on MTV at 10/9 pm CST, and his next two will be airing the following Monday evenings on the network. Special thanks to Toby for taking the time to speak with Dread Central!
Still on the fence about watching “Teen Wolf”? Check out our review of the first episode here.
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