Universal Dark Universe
 

Universal Pictures has just announced that its rebooted series of classic monster movies will be known as the Dark Universe, and will kick-off with next month’s The Mummy.

The studio has also officially confirmed that The Invisible Man and Frankenstein’s Monster will be played by, respectively, Johnny Depp and Javier Bardem, who will join Tom Cruise as Nick Morton and Russell Crowe as Dr. Henry Jekyll. The entire team is pictured above with Sofia Boutella, who will play the The Mummy of the title.

In addition, it's been announced that Bill Condon will direct Bride of Frankenstein, which will be the next film in the series and is set for release on February 14, 2019.

Check out the preview vid below, and welcome to a new world of gods and monsters.

https://www.comicbookmovie.com/monst...firmed-a151319

A Johnny Depp The Invisible Man movie?! Sign me up! :D
But as far as the other films, I couldn't care less.

Funny/sad how there's no Dracula there. It's probably the same reason Green Lantern isn't on the JL movie roster, though Dracula Untold (the original first movie of their Universal Dark Universe) didn't bomb that bad.

Agreed. Luke Evans is a great actor... bring him back.

Wait, didn't they try this before?

Here's the cast so far.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DAco70uXUAASL7b.jpg

Oh yeah, let's see that new Mummy make some BANK! It's gonna be yuuuge!

I really want a good Universal Monsters film franchise, but I'm concerned that this mummy movie is going to underperform and muck things up.

Maybe the third time will be the charm and Bride of Frankenstein can be the one to begin the Universal Dark Universe.

Hmm. To do that, the Bride of Frankenstein would need to be some kind of, I don't know... wonder woman

Its interesting that they are gonna do Bride of Frankenstein first before doing Frankenstein first, unless they are gonna combined the two.

That Javier Bardem is sitting there and he's the one playing Frankenstein's Monster, that suggests yeah... it'll be a Bride of Frankstein movie that also features Frankenstein's Monster.

A little odd that they're immediately following up with a woman-washed Mummy movie with the Bride of Frankenstein, particularly after being unhappy with the returns of Dracula Untold.

Definitely curious. I'm a sucker for these classic monsters. Even working on a book series featuring them (plans feature zombie, Frankenstein monster, wolfman, mummy.)

Tried Monster High, not enough meat for my taste. The first book series was decent but devisive, as it is aimed at a more older demographic

Dwayne Johnson & Angelina Jolie Still Rumored for Dark Universe Roles
Read more at http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/new...jo8FDVLVB2R.99

Universal May Run into Legal Trouble With “Dark Universe” Name
http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/34...universe-name/

That could be great casting, depending on writing.

However I feel that some of these movies are being written around the big action set pieces they plan on including in them

Dracula, Phantom and Hunchback Reboots Planned for “Dark Universe”
http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/34...dark-universe/

oooh, a new Universal Phantom. Now that would be cool.

http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/wonder-woman-owns-mummy

Ouch, The Mummy only going to premiere to 35 million? That's only 6 million more than Dracula Untold premiered to... but The Mummy has a budget 55 million higher than Dracula Untold.

Yeah, maybe Bride of Frankenstein can launch the shared universe and they can do another Mummy reboot after they do the other movies.

Nah, Universal will just pretend that The Mummy happened in the same locked vault as "Dracula Untold."

Shhh... They never happened.

I wonder if Universal will try to carry on with their Dark Universe in some vain hope that people will eventually start caring, or if they'll call it off (again) after this one bombs.

I don't even know why Tom Cruise is in this. They probably drove a boatload of money to his house. He should be too busy with Top Gun 2 next year.

Or he actually liked the script. Most actors will do a movie if it's the right fit for them and if the script is good. Not all actors do films like this for the money.

The Mummy movie seems good enough, but I dunno... nothing's really standing out for me. It seems like it's trying too hard. It doesn't seem very scary, either, and doesn't have the sort of fun, swashbuckling vibe of the Fraser ones.

Judging by the trailers it just seems too sterile. Like it's the kind of movie you watch and you forget everything about it just a month later.

It'll probably do Kong: Skull Island (anyone still remember that?) numbers, or a bit less. Mission Impossible VI: Mummy Protocol might do really, really well overseas, though... Tom does pull people in. Most of the time.

Universal’s Van Helsing Reboot Eyes Channing Tatum
Read more at http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/new...AvHbdHzb5BI.99

I didn't even know there were looking at making a Van Helsing remake until today's news.

But why would they? Don't remakes generally have to be of originals that were actually good? Van Helsing with Jackman was one of the worst movies I've seen in my life.

This is probably the "Dracula" movie, or how they introduce Dracula in this universe.

Channing Tatum! He's a movie star! These are real movies! We're like Marvel!

I'm sure tens of people are disappointed.

LOL!

http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/2013/07/laughter.gif

“After thoughtful consideration, Universal Pictures and director Bill Condon have decided to postpone Bride of Frankenstein,” Universal said in a statement to Deadline. “None of us want to move too quickly to meet a release date when we know this special movie needs more time to come together. Bill is a director whose enormous talent has been proven time and again, and we all look forward to continuing to work on this film together.”

These guys just don't learn. They tried starting the "Dark Universe" a little bit quietly with that Dracula movie and it didn't work, so instead of being more subtle the second time, or abandoning the idea, the entire selling point of The Mummy was the fact that it was a small piece of a a grand cinematic universe. And now of course they look like bigger fools than ever, having counted their chickens before the eggs even existed.

And when it turned out the Mummy was poo, that was the only potentially retroactively redeeming aspect to things. "I dunno... *head scratch* maybe the movies to come will make this movie worthwhile to exist, somehow?" Now not even that, lol

They're suffering from the WB symptom of "if things do go as planned cancel everything".

I remember reading some interview that stated that the Wolfman 2010 film was a way to see if they revived their old Monsters Universe, that clearly didn't go anywhere.

A few years later they tried again with Dracula Untold only to fail again and now with the Mummy. You'd think after failing twice to set it up they would've had a better plan.

Then again my biggest problems with the Dark Universe is that these monsters just don't work in contemporary times, I mean I give them credit for trying and think it's cool that they went in a totally new direction but it's a hard sell. If it had been a time piece set in the past it might've been easier to sway audiences to check it out.

That's what I've been saying too, man. I don't know, a mummy just doesn't seem as scary if I can put it on facebook live

and also they tried really hard to spin The Mummy as an action movie, and to me action + horror is not a great combo.

Kurtzman and Morgan are done

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hea...rverse-1055854

Yeah, I think the whole Dark Universe is dead.

How many times have they tried to get this cinematic universe started?

This was try 2, and they convinced themselves it would work because they made all of this marketing material for it alongside The Mummy. That was an awful idea.

Hopefully they've learned a lesson on their next fi -- oh, right, they're almost assuredly never working ever again. Maybe on TV. Or Crackle, or something.

Let's make this thread more useful then. I've always wanted to watch the Classic Universal horror films, how have they aged? I feel they'd be a bore to watch.

I'm a big fan of King Kong and don't mind black and white movies.