Universal's Dark Universe Will Also Include PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, and DRACULA
It looks like there are a couple more films that have been added to Universal Pictures' Dark Universe monster film franchise. This whole thing is being launched with The Mummy, and that will be followed by The Bride of Frankenstein. After that they've got The Invisible Man with Johnny Depp; Frankenstein with Javier Bardem; The Wolfman possibly with Dwayne Johnson; and Creature from the Black Lagoon.
During a recent interview with Fandom, The Mummy director Alex Kurtzman revealed that they will also be developing films for Phantom of the Opera, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and another Dracula film. I know Universal already made a Dracula film called Dracula Untold, but it's already been confirmed that film is not a part of the Dark Universe. So, this will be a completely new reimagining.
It makes sense that the Dark Universe would include these films because it wouldn't be a true Universal Monster party without them! Kurtzman goes on to say that there are opportunities for even more characters:
"There are characters within those films that can grow and expand and maybe even spin off. I think that digging into deep mythologies about monsters around the world is fair game for us, as well and connecting the monsters that we know to some surprising monsters could also be really interesting."
There are some exciting possibilities there, especially with Russell Crowe's Dr. Jekyll, and who knows where Tom Cruise's character could end up. He goes on to talk about certain actors that he'd like to work with in some of these films, saying:
"I’d love to bring Michael Fassbender in, I’d love to bring Jennifer Lawrence in, I’d love to see Charlize Theron in there, Angelina Jolie…"
I'll admit, I was a little apprehensive about all this at first, but I'm kind of excited to see what comes of it. I really hope that Universal can pull this off! I used to watch the classic Universal monster films all the time when I was growing up and it would be so cool if these new films actually ended up being great. First thing's first... let's see how The Mummy turns out.