| Director | Mike Nichols |
|---|---|
| Budget | $70 million |
| Box office | $131 million |
Will Randall, editor-in-chief of a large New York publishing house, runs over a large black wolf on a Vermont country road; he is bitten while attempting to help it. A few days later, tycoon Raymond Alden announces that he's taking over the publishing house. The experienced and ailing Will accepts a demotion while his unscrupulous protégé Stewart Swinton is given his previous position. Will meets Alden's headstrong yet little-accomplished daughter, Laura. Will soon finds his vitality increased and his senses sharpened, which leads him to suspect his wife Charlotte and Swinton are having an affair after smelling Swinton's scent on Charlotte's clothing. Will's suspicion is confirmed when he surprises the two in Swinton's apartment. He angrily bites Swinton's hand before leaving Charlotte.
Will begins a relationship with Laura and spends the night at the Aldens' villa after suffering a fainting spell. He awakens in a transformed state and mauls a deer in the estate's park, later awakening covered in blood. He visits pagan expert Dr. Vijay Alezais, who explains he is transforming into a wolf. He gives Will an amulet to prevent his transformation's completion. That night, during another transformation, Will breaks into a zoo, steals handcuffs from a policeman while evading arrest, and viciously attacks a group of muggers. He wakes up in his hotel, with no memory of the previous night.
Will organizes a mutiny of writers who threaten to leave the publishing house unless Will remains editor-in-chief. Alden agrees, and Will's first act is to fire Stewart. He urinates on his shoes in a bathroom, claiming he is "marking his territory". While washing his hands, Will finds a mugger's finger in his handkerchief and realizes he wounded someone. He cuffs himself to his hotel room radiator, but Laura arrives and allays his fears. They spend the night together, but Will later leaves the hotel room unnoticed and roams Central Park transformed. The next morning, Detective Carl Bridger informs Will that Charlotte was found dead in Central Park with canine DNA on her.
That evening, Laura locks Will in a horse stable at his request and makes her way to the police station to give a statement. There she runs into Swinton, who is behaving brutishly and sporting golden eyes. Laura hurries away, making arrangements for her and Will to leave the country. Swinton follows Laura and invades the estate, killing two guards. When Swinton attempts to rape Laura, Will discards the amulet and fights Swinton, ruthlessly mauling him. Laura grabs a gun from a dead guard and finishes off Swinton. Will, still in a half-human state, has a brief moment with Laura and then disappears into the New England woods. Minutes later, Laura amazes Bridger with her heightened senses as she takes her leave. Will, having transformed into a wolf, howls for Laura in the woods as Laura's eyes begin to change as Will's and Swinton's did.