Earlier this summer, the Tom Cruise-starring The Mummy kicked off the Dark Universe, a shared cinematic universe featuring reboots of the classic Universal monsters. The next installment in this universe is Bride of Frankenstein, which director Bill Condon confirmed to Forbes would begin shooting this February.
“We start on February 1st, 2018 so it’s the early days but just to be here in London, starting to see locations and to talk about sets that we’re building, it’s very exciting,” Condon explained.
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He continued, “For me, the James Whale movie is really right there in the pantheon. As you know, the Bride is a character who appears in the last five minutes and then is destroyed so it’s a way to almost continue the movie that you imagine the movie he might have made the third Frankenstein movie but in 2018.”
Following the announcement of the Dark Universe of films, we learned that Russell Crowe would play Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Javier Bardem would play Frankenstein’s Monster and Johnny Depp would play the invisible man. This leaves the casting of the Bride up for grabs.
When asked about if any of the film’s casting had been solidified, Condon noted, “Not yet, no. Nothing is set yet. I think pretty soon but I think we’re trying to figure that out now but obviously, pretty soon we’re going to have to start really honing in on it. I’m not trying to be coy but I really shouldn’t say.”
Despite the film being highly anticipated, The Mummy became a critical and financial disappointment. The film underperformed so much, in fact, that many thought the whole Dark Universe was in jeopardy. Overseas, however, the film performed much more successfully.
“I think every movie will be different,” Mummy director Alex Kurtzman said of adjusting the Dark Universe for international audiences. “I certainly know that the legacy of the monsters have endured across the world throughout the years. Almost a century. So I have to believe American audiences will find it too with the right ingredients.” As far as whether future films will cater more towards international audiences accordingly, he added, “It’s hard for me to know, is the truth.”
We’ll have to stay tuned for future developments on the Dark Universe.
