Universal Pictures Has Shut Down Production on Their BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN Remake
Uh oh. Something is amiss at Universal Pictures and their Dark Universe as they have just removed Bride of Frankenstein off on their release schedule and the production has been shut down. According to Deadline, "Pre-production had gotten underway in London for a February 1 production start, but the crew has just been told to go home for the time being."
Does this mean the studio is giving up on their Dark Universe monster films? It doesn't sound like it. Javier Bardem and Angelina Jolie are still in talks to join the film and they aren't walking away from it. Bardem would play the monster and Jolie would play his reluctant bride.
The report goes on to say that they "heard the film is going back to the lab to do some more work on the script and that is why they stopped the clock." Once everything is solidly ready to go, the actors are expected to sign onto the project. Universal offered the following statement:
“After thoughtful consideration, Universal Pictures and director Bill Condon have decided to postpone Bride of Frankenstein. None of us want to move too quickly to meet a release date when we know this special movie needs more time to come together. Bill is a director whose enormous talent has been proven time and again, and we all look forward to continuing to work on this film together.”
I'm actually kinda glad that they are taking their time to work on developing the story. Condon recently talked about his approach for the film saying he wants it to continue the story of the original film in a way.
“For me, the James Whale movie is really right there in the pantheon for me. As you know, the Bride is a character who appears in the last five minutes and then is destroyed, so it’s a way to almost continue the movie that you imagine the movie he might have made the third Frankenstein movie but in 2018.”
It does seem strange that we are getting the Bride of Frankenstein before Frankenstein, but it will be interesting to see how the story is handled. I guess they just don't feel that Frankenstein needs his own movie because everyone already knows that story, which is something I understand. Spider-Man: Homecoming did that and it worked out great!
Bride of Frankenstein was supped to be released on February 14, 2019. Now we have no idea when it will be released, but they are going to take their sweet time.