As you may recall, one of Universal’s “Dark Universe” plans was a new take on 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein, with Bill Condon attached to direct and Angelina Jolie in talks to star as the title character. Alas, the box office under-performance of the Tom Cruise-starring The Mummy spelled a quick end for the “Dark Universe,” sending Universal back to the drawing board.
This month, Blumhouse and Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man will kick-start a brand new initiative for the classic Universal Monsters, and other projects currently in the works include Paul Feig’s Dark Army, Dexter Fletcher’s Renfield, Elizabeth Banks’s The Invisible Woman, and Matt Stawski’s Monster Mash. But what about the Bride of Frankenstein, you ask?
An interesting article popped up on Variety this week, making it pretty clear that Universal is very much still interested on delivering a fresh new take on the iconic character who barely appeared in what would seem to be, based on the title, her own movie. Variety reports, “In the past year alone, figures like Oscar-nominated producer Amy Pascal and freshmen horror sensation John Krasinski have been quietly exploring ways to reimagine the skunk-haired creature for the cineplex, insiders familiar with the project told Variety.”
The site notes that Pascal is currently at the center of the Bride’s resurrection, and that she has “floated the project by” none other than Sam Raimi. As Variety explains, however, it’s unlikely that Raimi will be boarding the project as he’s now set to devote a whole lot of his time here in 2020 and 2021 to Marvel’s Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness.
Variety also reports that writer David Koepp, who was attached to pen the “Dark Universe” iteration of Bride of Frankenstein, has been approached by Pascal.
“Amy [Pascal] expressed interest in being involved with The Bride of Frankenstein, and just as the studio has done with numerous other filmmakers, we empowered her to explore a new vision for the Universal monster character and come back with a new and inventive take. Nothing has been solidified in an official capacity,” a Universal source told Variety.
It seems that Universal is big on “new and inventive takes” for all of their classic monsters at the present moment in time, and that should be pretty exciting to all fans of those iconic characters. Here’s hoping Whannell’s The Invisible Man is enough of a hit at the box office to convince them to continue down that path, rather than pull the plug on their plans once more.
For now, it sounds like the ship is at least headed in the right direction. If they can keep the budgets low and give their filmmakers creative freedom, it’ll be a win-win situation for all.
Who would you like to see come aboard as the director of Bride of Frankenstein? Can we suggest Jennifer Kent? How about Coralie Fargeat? Karyn Kusama? Ana Lily Amirpour?
