MOVIE NEWS – Alex Kurtzman’s film from 2017 was such a disaster that it eventually led to Universal’s Dark Universe’ collapse.

Universal had planned to ride the success of the cinematic universes when it launched its Dark Universe series five years ago. In this universe, we would have followed the adventures of Dr Jekyll, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man and the Mummy. In 2017, the series opened with The Mummy starring Tom Cruise, but the reception was so negative that it doomed the entire Dark Universe project. The studio has since been trying to keep its monsters alive with standalone films.

Previous versions of The Mummy have all been successful. The Boris Karloff adaptation in 1932 and the 1999 version starring Brendan Fraser were both successful. But the latest reboot was a financial and critical failure. Further sequels and spinoffs were planned and would have been possible, such as the secret society led by Henry Jekyll, played by Russell Crowe, but these will not be made.

Alex Kurtzman is also aware of the failure, he feels it is the worst thing he has ever done. He told The Playlist:

“I tend to subscribe to the point of view that you learn nothing from your successes, and you learn everything from your failures. And that was probably the biggest failure of my life, both personally and professionally. There are about a million things I regret about it, but it also gave me so many gifts that are inexpressibly beautiful. I didn’t become a director until I made that movie, and it wasn’t because it was well directed – it was because it wasn’t.”

“Look, if you look at history and you look at people who’ve made amazing things, every single one of them will tell you the same story which is that it came after a failure, so I look back on it now with gratitude. It took me a while to get there, but my life is better for it.”

Despite Dark Universe’s failure, the studio hasn’t given up on the subject. In 2020’s The Invisible Man, the H.G. Wells story is being reimagined as a horror, abandoning classic stereotypical elements and instead bringing a fresh new approach that has been a success. This success encouraged the studio to make more similar films.

A new version of The Wolf Man is currently in production, starring Ryan Gosling. In addition, filming has just finished on the horror comedy Renfield, starring Nicolas Cage as Dracula. A Van Helsing film directed by James Wan is in the works, as well as a possible Bride of Frankenstein project which might feature Angelina Jolie. There are about 10-12 films in various stages of completion, all based on characters from the 30s and 40s.

Source: MovieWeb