With Marvel and DC’s superhero films proving that geeky franchises can flourish, it makes sense that Universal is peering back into the vault at its OG franchise: classic monster movies.
We’re talking, of course, about the black-and-white Frankenstein, Dracula, and Creature From the Black Lagoon on which we all grew up—or, for younger movie audiences, watched other movies parody and reference without achieving the same staying power as these horror masterpieces.
We’ve known for a while that such a massive revival was in the works, but now we know who’s helming it: Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan.
The news about Kurtzman’s involvement comes on the heels of the announcement that he and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 writing partner Robert Orci are splitting up to pursue separate projects. While it’s unclear if Kurtzman will pen any of the scripts, Universal’s horror icon shared universe is an exciting concept: All of the horror greats, united under a common storyline, maybe even facing off against recurring characters. He’s joined by Morgan, who’s written the screenplays for the Fast and the Furious films since 2006, so we’re guaranteed at least one thrilling car chase between Dracula and the Mummy.
Obviously, the last fifteen years have seen standalone pictures like The Mummy, Van Helsing, and the forthcoming Dracula Untold. But now the plan is to reboot these films—The Mummy is first up, on April 22, 2016—and others that haven’t been touched since the original versions. Kurtzman and Morgan will help oversee production, marketing, and everything else ensuring that movie audiences see these films as a cohesive whole.
We love this idea of an interconnected horror universe—though we’re curious to see if, in linking all of the movies, they go more for old-school cheese factor or try to scare the socks off us all over again.
Photos: Universal Pictures
