As we know, Universal is going full speed ahead with their shared universe of movie monsters, but it hasn’t been clear who they’ll feature and in what form. Some new announcements offer a little clarity to what Universal’s up to, and brings some talent to the mix.
First off, according to the Hollywood Reporter, they have some fairly talented new writers involved. Probably the most relevant is Noah Hawley, who turned Fargo into a superb TV series. But Aaron Guzikowski, who wrote last year’s missing-kids thriller Prisoners, and Ed Solomon, who wrote the good Men In Black movie, are no slouches either. Guzikowski will be writing a new Wolfman movie, which seems a likely candidate for that April 2017 slot Universal staked out with no movie in mind.
We also know the monsters getting screen-time:
Other planned movies revolve around the characters of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein and vampire hunter Van Helsing. It’s not clear what the order for the movies will be nor what stages of development the projects are in…
Sorry, Gill Man fans, you’re going to have wait until we get into Phase Two of Universal Monsters. Or maybe just a few more years, it’s pretty hard to get a ton of movies out of a lot of these concepts and it’s not like they’re going to remake dogs like The Invisible Girl any time soon.
That said, while I have a certain affection for 2010’s disastrous The Wolfman, I can’t say I’m surprised Universal wants to put it behind them and try another werewolf movie. Just ensure there’s a moment where we confirm that this wolfman has nards, and everyone will be happy.
