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 Universal Pictures had a plan for a series of Dark
Universe films that would deal with a shared cinematic universe with its classic
monsters but the failure of The Mummy has led to producers Alex Kurtzman and
Chris Morgan leaving the planned franchise. Their offices on the set are empty
even though development continues on Bill Condon’s Bride of Frankenstein. The
Tom Cruise-led The Mummy only made $80 million domestic and got horrible
reviews. The international market saved the film which ended up making $409
million from a $125 million budget. Universal had plans for a Javier Bardem -led
Frankenstein, Johnny Depp as The Invisible Man, Dwayne Johnson as The Wolfman,
Angelina Jolie as The Bride of Frankenstein and new versions of Phantom of the
Opera, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dracula and Creature from the Black Lagoon. Each
film would be linked by Russell Crowe’s Dr. Henry Jekyll and his Prodigium
multi-national organization. So the Dark Universe was dead but Jason Blum’s
Blumhouse studio has expressed interest in taking it over. That would mean
smaller budgets but probably better films.
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