Paul Feig Offers Update on His Universal Monster Film DARK ARMY, Which May Be Too Expensive to Get Made
As you know, director Paul Feig (Ghostbusters, Bridesmaids) has been working on a monster film for Universal Pictures titled Dark Army.
At the time of the announcement, it was revealed that Dark Army would “tie into the Monster universe” and that it “will include characters from Universal’s classic monster library and original characters created by Feig.”
The director is pretty passionate about this project, and in an interview with Collider, he said that the film is one of his favorite things that he’s written, but it might be too expensive for the studio to make:
"I love that project so much. I think the studio thinks it’s a little too expensive, perhaps. God as my witness, I’m gonna make that movie. I’m so obsessed with making that movie. One of the many reasons why I was drawn to doing this current Netflix [movie] is that there’s a lot of stuff I can work out in it, as far as effects and all that, that I can bring to Dark Army. I love it. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. It’s one of my favorite lead characters I’ve ever come up with. So, fingers crossed that we will make it someday."
When previously talking about the film and the tone, Feig explained he wants his film to be like those classic monster films that many of us love. He also mentioned that his film will be a true monster movie:
“I really want this to bring the same feeling that those old monster movies that I loved growing up watching [did]. I’m not as interested in doing a horror movie as I am in doing a true monster film. So, hopefully that will see the light of day. You never know in Hollywood these days, but I love it. I’m very excited about it. I’m excited about the characters that I’ve created and about some of the ones that I’ve been able bring over from the old movies.”
When talking about the style of the monster movie he wants to make, he shared:
“I’m a mega-fan of those old horror movies. I call them more monster movies than horror movies, quite frankly. Horror movies to me now represent slasher and that kind of thing, which I don’t enjoy at all. I loved those old movies like ‘Frankenstein.’ ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ is probably one of the greatest movies of all-time. I love that movie so much, and there are some things from that movie that I’m using in this new movie ‘Dark Army.’ But I really want to do a James Whale-ish, modern day version of a monster movie that is about these characters. What I love about monsters is they’re outsiders, it’s just the most extreme version of outsiders. Frankenstein is one of the most sympathetic characters ever to be put on the screen, even though he does terrible things. He’s just looking for acceptance and love. If you read Mary Shelley’s book he’s a pure spirit who becomes evil because he just gets shit on constantly. Everybody just can’t get past the way he looks, and it turns him murderous. (laughs) That’s the extreme version of that kind of thing, but I love that feel. I want to bring that ookie spookie feel back to movies, but with these monsters you root for and understand at the same time. I finished the first draft of the script and I’m so excited about it! I’m literally on fire about getting this movie made as soon as I can. I turned it into the Dark Universe people last week and they loved it. Now it’s going over to the heads of Universal, so we’ll see.”
I have to say, I’m a fan of the vision for this film that Feig wants to make. I think It could be a really cool film, but I don’t think Feig has what it takes to effectively pull it off. He’s good with certain types of films, but after seeing his take on Ghostbusters, I don’t trust in his ability to tell a good monster horror film.
It’ll be interesting to see if Universal Studios ever decided to move forward with it.