• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Dark Universe to add Hunchback of Notre Dame & Phantom of the Opera to its roster.

S

SpaceWolf

Banned
....and more!

universal_monsters_625.jpg


The Bride of Frankenstein officially follows The Mummy as the next instalment in Universal's new Dark Universe franchise – a shared universe of films resurrecting creatures from the old Universal monster movies. We also already know we'll get an Invisible Man film starring Johnny Depp. You might well have heard talk of other films in the works.

Now the creative mind behind the Dark Universe, and director and producer of The Mummy, Alex Kurtzman, has exclusively revealed to FANDOM that we'll get Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame among other titles added to the roster.

”We know we're going to do Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Phantom of the Opera, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Invisible Man," he says.
Click to expand...

The Dark Universe is an ambitious project in its infancy and casting rumours are already beginning to swirl around the franchise. There has been talk, for instance, that Angelina Jolie may pick up the Bride of Frankenstein role. Kurtzman does nothing to dismiss this when asked who he'd like to bring into the Dark Universe.

”I'd love to bring Michael Fassbender in, I'd love to bring Jennifer Lawrence in, I'd love to see Charlize Theron in there, Angelina Jolie..." he says.
Click to expand...

Jennifer Lawrence as the Hunchbuck of Notre Dame? I'll take ten tickets, please!

(Not even sure if I'm joking)

Strap me down in a spooky castle and force me to watch Dracula Untold if old.
 
N

Nesotenso

Member
I would be surprised if "The Mummy" ends being a success. This dark universe bullshit might be dead on arrival.
 
C

CassSept

Member
I mean, this is the third time they're trying to start up this shared universe this decade but they're mightily dedicated this time for some reason. Especially since Mummy looks bad.
 
I

IdreamofHIME

Member
I can't help feeling Wonder Woman is gonna get a surge this weekend from word of mouth and torpedo the crusie missile and this franchise.
 
S

SchrodingerC

Member
...really?

Phantom of the Opera?

I know it's part of the Universal legacy and all, but wtf would Eric do in this universe? He's just a guy with a freak face.
 
R

Rydeen

Member
The issue is The Mummy doesn't look fun, it just looks like another bland, run-of-the-mill reboot with no personality on it's own. I would've loved if these movies would've actually taken a cue from the Universal classics and actually kept the heightened, gothic atmosphere and visuals and gone whole-hog with the period setting instead of squandering $125 million on a vapid, empty turd they're only trying to sell with star power.

The real approach should've been make them small, personal takes on the classic monsters for 25-30 million each. Look at The Witch, cost what? a few hundred thousand? Made $40 million at the worldwide box office merely due to word of mouth. Universal would've been smart to make smaller, scarier, more budget-minded films instead of trying to compete with the MCU.
 
N

Nyanmaruz

Member
SpaceWolf said:
Remember folks, if The Mummy disappoints at the box-office....absolutely none of this is likely to come to fruition!
Click to expand...
They will just say that The Mummy is actually not part of this "Dark Universe" like what they did with Dracula Untold a few years ago.
No seriously, this actually won't work.
 
D

Dominator

Member
Even if The Mummy flops, I don't see this stopping after one film. I can see them going a few attempts as the franchises are different enough, except this time they have a little through line.
 
T

ThoseDeafMutes

Member
MMarston said:
Yeah, but Dracula Untold already happened and that didn't stop them.
Click to expand...

There's not much to lose in trying to make any monster movies they do come out with the launching pad for a cinematic universe. They might put it on ice for a few years but inevitably one of these properties will come up again, and if it's a hit, then they might a well try to keep going.
 
TDLink

TDLink

Member
I wonder how many movies in they're going to make it to before scrapping the whole thing.

I'm thinking 3.

ZeoVGM said:
The review embargo for The Mummy is Thursday.

Just throwing a random statement out there.
Click to expand...

It's terrible. Probably the worst movie this summer, and I say this without seeing every other movie this summer. It deserves the upcoming bomb.
 
Grizzlyjin

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
I'm still skeptical the interest is there for these movies, but what do they have to lose? Universal is going to try and revive these monster films either way. I guess it doesn't hurt that they're laying down a game plan first. Hopefully they're not all huge blockbusters and we get a smaller, unique film in here somewhere. Give me my cinematic Penny Dreadful, dammit.
 
R

Rydeen

Member
The other thing that's weird to me is Universal owns the trademark on their versions of the classic monsters the way Disney owns their interpretations, so why doesn't Universal embrace it and actually continue that legacy by following the designs of the original films more closely? You don't necessarily have to sacrifice them looking less modern and more outdated either, just look at Rick Baker's amazing makeup work on Benicio Del Toro for The Wolfman, which looked great and harkened back to the Lon Chaney Jr. look of the character at the same time.
 
Z

ZeoVGM

Banned
TDLink said:
It's terrible. Probably the worst movie this summer, and I say this without seeing every other movie this summer. It deserves the upcoming bomb.
Click to expand...

You saw it? Can you give some non-spoilery details as to why it sucks?

... The Cruise Missile wasn't able to redeem it?
 
B

Beren the Empty-Handed

Member
GAMEPROFF said:
Hyde is already confirmed. But I think we dont have any details yet
Click to expand...

Good. He deserves one. Even though I'm sure they'll just make him into the Hulk again. I'd like to be proven wrong, but this whole thing might not get that far. They're trying to drum up excitement any way they can, but I'm not sure anyone's feeling it.

EDIT: You lied to me! D: D: D: D:
 
G

GAMEPROFF

Banned
Beren the Empty-Handed said:
Good. He deserves one. Even though I'm sure they'll just make him into the Hulk again. I'd like to be proven wrong, but this whole thing might not get that far. They're trying to drum up excitement any way they can, but I'm not sure anyone's feeling it.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I fucked up, there is nothing confirmed yet in that regards.
 
M

mortal

Banned
SpaceWolf said:
Michael Fassbender as Frankenstein's Monster would actually be a pretty great call.
Click to expand...

Holy shit that performance, in some really interesting, believable makeup? Amazing.

Phantom of the Opera could have potential. The cinematography would have to be on point!
 
E

Exodust

Banned
The fact that this became some MCU like generic action movie series with classic monsters is baffling. And the reason it failed each time they tried has everything to do with terrible movies that share almost no identity with the famous characters.

I'd love some quality medium budget horror movies featuring the horror icons. Sure, it wouldn't break box office records. But it's better than whatever the hell this is trying to be.

SpaceWolf said:
Michael Fassbender as Frankenstein's Monster would actually be a pretty great call.
Click to expand...

I'm the opposite. I think he'd do a great job as Dr. Frankenstein.
 
S

SpaceWolf

Banned
Exodust said:
I'm the opposite, I think he'd do a great job as Dr. Frankenstein.
Click to expand...

Why not both?

Doctor Frankenstein gets killed by an angry mob for his weird experiments involving reanimating the dead and out of servile faithfulness, Igor, using the good doctor's research, resurrects his master as "Frankenstein". Dramatic irony!

Call me, Universal. We could squeeze in a post-credits scene involving The Wolfman recruiting him into the Monster Squad, or whatever. We'll make billions!
 
S

SolicitorPirate

Member
I'm confused. How do they make a shared universe out of all this? Do the monsters cross over with each other? Do we get Monster Avengers where they team up to kill people?

Or do the humans show up in different movies? In which case, when has anyone ever cared about a human character in a monster story except for maybe Van Helsing?
 
M

Meowster

Member
I think in theory this could actually be really cool and interesting but if The Mummy is what they have in mind for it..
 
R

Rydeen

Member
SolicitorPirate said:
Or do the humans show up in different movies? In which case, when has anyone ever cared about a human character in a monster story except for maybe Van Helsing?
Click to expand...
Dr. Jekyll (Played by Russell Crowe) is so far the character that's supposed to link the films together, and Van Helsing was weak in the original Dracula adaptations, he didn't get interesting until Peter Cushing played him multiple times as Dracula's foil in the Hammer Dracula films.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Essential Horror Films
34
2K
carlosrox replied
'Dark Universe' Core Creative Alex Kurtzman May Leave The Franchise
2 3
118
6K
Razgriz-Specter replied
Dark Universe: 'Bride Of Frankenstein' Delayed; Stars Expected To Wait
25
3K
Sesha replied
Rumor: Universal wants Channing Tatum as Van Helsing in Dark Universe movie
2
53
6K
Slayven replied
Universal creates "Dark Universe", with "The Mummy" and "Bride of Frankenstein."
2 3 4 5 6
250
26K
fallengorn replied
Top Bottom