Take a look at all the planned Universal Monsters remakes set for The Dark Universe that were canceled following box office bomb of The Mummy.
In film history, the 2010s will likely be written as the age of the shared universe. The success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe inspired every studio in Hollywood to make attempts at crafting their own interconnected franchises. Warner Bros. has three with the DCEU consisting of their various DC heroes, The MonsterVerse which unites the Godzilla and King Kong franchises, and The Conjuring universe, which is arguably the second most successful cinematic universe after the MCU.
However, before all of these, Universal Studios actually originated the idea successfully during the 1930s and '40s with their Universal Monsters brand, which often saw the various different monsters crossing over with one another and fighting. It was highly popular, and even over 60 years removed from their original releases these films and characters (Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf Man, Invisible Man, Mummy) still speak to audiences. Their images have become iconic and known the world over. So it made sense that Universal Pictures would attempt to use these various monsters to make a new shared universe, and their plan was dubbed The Dark Universe.
Getting a small unceremonious kick-off with 2014's Dracula Untold, the project really began to take shape with the release of 2017 with The Mummy starring Tom Cruise. The Mummy franchise was already successfully rebooted once into a profitable franchise, and with Tom Cruise one of the biggest action stars on the planet Universal Studios moved full steam ahead on their plans for a new franchise. They created a special logo, unveiled a publicity photo highlighting the movie star talent they acquired, and set The Mummy for a prime summer release date. Everything seemed ready to go, but once audiences saw The Mummy everything changed.
The Mummy received negative reviews from critics and audiences, and in its opening weekend came in number two at the box office behind Wonder Woman, which was in its second weekend. The Mummy made only $80 million domestically (it was slightly softened by a $409 million worldwide haul) but it appeared The Dark Universe was dead before it even began. Universal spent the summer of 2017 trying to salvage the franchise, but by the end of the year, it appeared everyone had moved on and all new adaptations and reimaginings of the classic monsters would be stand-alone pictures. With how much Universal Pictures was betting on this new franchise, they released a lot of headlines and details about their plans. Here is a breakdown of all the canceled films in Universal's Dark Universe.
In 2004, Universal attempted to relaunch their classic monsters brand with the film Van Helsing and brought on The Mummy and The Mummy Returns director Stephen Sommers to hopefully recapture that magic for Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman. Despite a massive marketing push and star power like Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale, the movie was a box office disappointment.
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However, Universal appeared interested in revisiting the idea, as in 2012 it was reported that the studio was considering a reboot alongside The Mummy in the early stages of what would become The Dark Universe. Initially, Tom Cruise was set to play the role of Van Helsing, but he eventually moved over to The Mummy. In 2017, it was reported that Universal Pictures was eying Channing Tatum for the part but just a few months later Universal scrapped their original Dark Universe plans.
Universal Pictures had been developing a new version of The Invisible Man since at least 2006, but the project truly picked up steam in February 2016 when Johnny Depp signed on to play the title character. Ed Solomon (Men in Black) was set to pen the script, and it was confirmed that The Invisible Man would be set within the upcoming shared universe Universal Studios was planning. Depp was seen in the Dark Universe publicity photo released in 2017 alongside The Mummy stars Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, and Russell Crowe, as well as Javier Bardem who had signed on to play Frankenstein's monster.
However, the combination of The Mummy's box office disappointment and troubling headlines surrounding Depp and his divorce from star Amber Heard resulted in the project being scrapped. It was eventually reworked into the smaller stand-alone version released in 2020 by producer Jason Blum, a feminist horror modern classic that went on to gross $143.1 million worldwide.
While not as immediately iconic members of the Universal Monsters, both Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback are two of Universal Picture's oldest movie monsters. Universal Pictures released two versions of Phantom of the Opera, the first in 1925 starring Lon Chaney and a remake in 1943 starring Claude Rains. Universal Pictures released The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1923 which also featured Lon Chaney as the titular monster.
Related: These Actors Should Play Universal Monsters in Reboots of the Films
While no official plans were made regarding these two projects, Dark Universe architect and The Mummy director Alex Kurtzman did name-drop both of the characters as monsters the franchise wished to explore.
The Wolf Man is part of the trinity of Universal movie monsters, alongside Dracula and Frankenstein. Universal Pictures had been working on a remake for years that went through various directors and release dates that finally was released in 2010 titled The Wolfman and starred Benicio Del Toro. The film was a box office and critical disappointment, but with a new shared universe that would unite the various monsters, The Wolfman was certainly a priority. While no release date was ever set for The Wolfman and no director ever signed on, it was rumored that Dwyane Johnson was the studio's top pick Interesting Johnson had previously played a new Universal monster The Scorpion King in 2001's The Mummy Returns, and the spin-off film The Scorpion King.
The new version of The Wolfman never materialized and once The Dark Universe concept was scrapped, the project shifted to being a stand-alone film. Now it will star Ryan Gosling in the lead role.
Of all the Universal Monsters, Creature from the Black Lagoon has been the one that Universal Studios has had the most difficulty with over the years. In the 90s, long before the Dark Universe plans were crafted, John Carpenter, Peter Jackson, and Ivan Reitman were all approached to helm a remake. In 2002 Guillermo Del Toro signed on to direct the remake and wanted to tell it from the creature's point of view. Del Toro was let go, but he eventually turned that concept into the 2017 film The Shape of Water which won Best Picture at that year's Academy Awards. In 2005 Breck Eisner signed on but the Writers Guild of America Strike delayed the project even more.
Within the Dark Universe, Creature from the Black Lagoon was one of the intended films as the hand of a Gil-Man-type creature can be seen in The Mummy. Will Beall was hired to write the film and rumors circulated that the studio was considering Scarlett Johansson for the lead role. Since the collapse of The Dark Universe, no plans have been made regarding the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
The Bride of Frankenstein is the film that got the closest to screens before the box office bomb of The Mummy derailed the whole movie. David Koepp, the writer behind Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, signed on to write the film in 2015 with the script beginning in the 1870s, and later in the film the Bride would awaken in the present day. Bill Condon, hot off the box office hit of 2017's Beauty and the Beast, signed on to direct Bride of Frankenstein with a release date set for Valentine's Day 2019. The movie would star Angelina Jolie as the Bride of Frankenstein and Javier Bardem as Frankenstein's Monster.
In October 2017, shortly before filming was set to begin, the production was delayed to work on the script in response to the critical and box office failure of The Mummy that summer. The production delay meant they might lose Jolie and the studio was considering Gal Gadot to take over. Despite meeting with production heads in 2018, the plans for the Dark Universe were scrapped and The Bride of Frankenstein became another high-profile project with a lot of headlines that never materialized.
Richard Fink is a writer who graduated from Arizona State University in 2016 with a degree in Film and Media Production. He loves the finer things in life, like cold Diet Coke on a hot summer day. Richard is a fan of all things Star Wars, Marvel, DC, and Film History.