Universal monsters scatter in the corners
In 2014, the bosses of Universal invited Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan to become the curators of the so-called Dark Universe, which, like the Marvel Comics, would bring together the famous monsters from the studio's classic horror films. A group of authors was assembled, work began on the scripts for the new "Van Helsing", "Mummy", "The Invisible Man". Kurtzman and Morgan have worked with talented authors such as John Spates (Prometheus) and Eric Heisserer (Arrival). As a result, Kurtzman himself led the filming of the first film in the universe, but film fans are well aware of how it all ended.The Mummy, starring Tom Cruise, failed on all fronts. Critics did not like the film, at home it grossed only $ 80 million.Viewers from other countries allowed the remake to earn more than $ 400 million, but this was not enough to recoup the large-scale budget of the tape, because about $ 125 million was spent on its shooting, and on the promotional campaign - another $ 100 million. Such dubious achievements made Universal think about the future of the Dark Universe. As a result, preparations for filming "Bride of Frankenstein" were suspended indefinitely, the text of the picture was sent back for revision. As The Hollywood Reporter found out, now the entire franchise is in danger of becoming a mummy. The source reports that Kurtzman and Morgan are no longer producers of the film series. The first decided to devote himself to television, where his "Star Trek: Discovery" is much more popular than "The Mummy" among moviegoers. Morgan, in turn, returned to the world of high speeds and is writing the script for the "Fast and the Furious" spin-off, dedicated to Hobbs and Deckard Show.  When Universal presented the first joint photo of the stars of its Dark Universe, nothing seemed to stop the studio from realizing its ambitious plans. Russell Crowe, Javier Bardem, Johnny Depp wanted to turn into new monsters, and Angelina Jolie was still considering an offer to play Bride of Frankenstein. It is unlikely that the major will leave the idea of creating a film series about monsters in the past, but, according to insiders, now the studio management is considering several options for further development of events. The first, and not the most successful, is to find new curators for the franchise, continuing to hope that viewers are interested in projects about monsters in the style of Marvel blockbusters. Journalists believe that Universal will nevertheless choose another option - abandoning the idea that all remakes should be related to each other, and inviting talented filmmakers capable of creating high-quality horror movies. One name has already sounded in this regard - the producer Jason Bloom, whose horror films Universal releases with enviable consistency.  Most analysts believe that all is not yet lost for the Dark Universe. It's never too late to change the vector of development, and monsters like Frankenstein and the Wolfman are still the heritage of Universal. The Topic of Article: Universal monsters scatter in the corners. |
