It is because of Universal Pictures that nearly everyone pictures Frankenstein’s Monster as Boris Karloff with a flattop and Dracula as a spellbinding Bela Lugosi. That’s because from the 1920s up until the emergence of England’s Hammer Productions in the late 1950s, Universal was the undisputed champion of the monster/horror movie, particularly with its monster movies of the 1930s and 1940s. The imagery of those old black and white films remain ingrained in our culture and Hollywood history.
Universal is hoping to take moviegoers back to that era. According to Deadline, Universal has picked Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek, Mission: Impossible III, Watchmen) and Chris Morgan (Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, 47 Ronin) to take the lead on returning these monsters back to the big screen. It isn’t clear if Kurtzman and Morgan will write, produce, and/or direct any of the movies, but their fingerprints will be all over Universal’s monster movie revivals for the next few years. The first film will be a reboot of The Mummy, already scheduled for an April 2016 release. The idea is that Kurtzman and Morgan will help Universal create a cohesive “monster” universe, much like the studio had in the 1940s with its numerous monster crossover films like Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man and House of Dracula.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Universal has attempted to revive its classic movie monster franchises. However, aside from 1999-2008 The Mummy trilogy, Universal hasn’t had much luck in its attempts. 2004 Van Helsing did lower-than-expected business, and 2010′s The Wolfman was a box office failure (although it won an Oscar and spawned a 2012 direct-to-video spinoff, Werewolf: The Beast Among Us!) Then in 2012 it was announced that Underworld director Len Wiseman would be directing a reboot of The Mummy and that Kurtzman and former writing partner Roberto Orci would be rebotting Van Helsing with none other than Tom Cruise in the lead, but nothing came of either. Universal is also taking another stab at Dracula with October’s Dracula Untold, though it doesn’t seem like that movie will fit into these new plans.
If nothing else, it proves that Universal is persistent. Do you think Universal has finally found the right men for the job though? Give us your take in the comments below.
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