|
 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. |
