Universal Monsters Getting Their Own Cinematic Universe?
Back in 2012 we learned that Star Trek writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman would be producing remakes of Van Helsing and The Mummy for Universal Pictures. It doesn't seem like much has happened with those since the announcement. That might be because they are planning something a little bigger than expected.
In a recent interview with IGN, Orci was asked about the Van Helsing remake and he revealed some bigger plans for a monster cinematic universe, kind of like what Marvel has done with their movie properties.
"There's an interesting thing that could happen at Universal where they have this amazing library of their old monsters and these kinds of heroes, and the idea of trying to create a universe. Van Helsing, and we're also producing The Mummy for them. We're kind of imagining updating these kinds of things. You don't want to just make remakes when you're doing a thing, unless it's worthy of being a remake, but when you have an idea for something that can actually be made different and yet be true to what it was. We just had a notion of how to make it modern and have a slightly different tone. It's not going to be just a remake."
Orci was then asked what his favorite monster was, to which he replied,
"I love Frankenstein just cause it's such a twisted, complicated monster. A monster that's not really a monster."
Who knows what they'll ultimately end up doing with these monsters, but a shared universe could be really awesome!
As for the movies mentioned above, Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) was in talks to direct Van Helsing with Tom Cruise set to star. Andres Muschietti (Mama) was in talks to direct The Mummy.