DARK UNIVERSE PLANS
Posted: 080917

Even though The Mummy was a critical and domestic box-office failure Universal’s plan for the Dark Universe initiative is still on. Variety revealed that Tom Cruise had complete creative oversight over the film. That included script approval, post-production decisions and the film’s marketing and release strategy. Since this was Star Trek’s Alex Kurtzman first directorial job he was at times overwhelmed by Cruise and so Cruise got the writers to give him more screen time at the expense of The Mummy herself (Sofia Boutella). He even had his own personal editor oversee the editing. The Mummy may break even once the video sales come in. Universal isn’t blinking though and are making the films that were supposed to follow. Beauty and the Beast’s Bill Condon has been tabbed to direct The Bride of Frankenstein. Gangster Squad’s Will Beall is writing the remake of The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Get Out’s producer Jason Blum will do at least one of the planned films. Johnny Depp is set as The Invisible Man, Javier Bardem is set to play Frankenstein’s monster and Dwayne Johnson is being approached to play The Wolf Man. Universal has plans for films starring Dracula, Phantom of the Opera and the Hunchback of Notre Dame if things go well.