The Dark Universe might not have worked out for Universal Pictures, but the beloved Universal Monsters franchise has found new life in recent years. At the forefront of this push for high quality, director-driven monster projects is Leigh Whannell, the co-writer and star of the original Saw. In 2020, Whannell wowed critics and audiences with his take on The Invisible Man. He and Blumhouse are now looking to do the same with Wolf Man, which hits theaters in January.
Provided that movie keeps pace with The Invisible Man, both with reviews and box office earnings, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Whannell take on another classic monster property. During an interview with Screen Rant, Whannell was asked which other monster he’d want to take a stab at, and he surprised with his answer about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
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“I’ve always thought Jekyll and Hyde,” Whannell explained. “That book, when I was a kid, really creeped me out, the concept of it. Of all the monsters, that one used to really stay with me. There’s something about the hero and the villain being the same person. I think it would be a really good modern version of Jekyll and Hyde. I don’t know exactly what it would be.”
There have been plenty of recent movies based on the classic monsters, and there will be plenty more in the coming years, though not all from Universal. Guillermo Del Toro is working on a new take on Frankenstein for Netflix, which will star Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, and Christoph Waltz. Maggie Gyllenhaal is directing a film called The Bride, based on The Bride of Frankenstein. That movie is set to star Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale.
One of the most popular horror directors working now is also taking a stab at an iconic Universal monster. James Wan, director of The Conjuring and longtime creative partner of Whannell, saw his Atomic Monster production company recently join forces with Blumhouse, who have been behind both of Whannell’s monster pictures. He is now set to produce and potentially direct a new take on The Creature From the Black Lagoon. That’s in addition to his work producing a new Van Helsing movie, which is supposed to be directed by Overlord and The Pope’s Exorcist filmmaker Julian Avery.
No matter which way you slice it, the Universal monsters movies are in good shape right now, and seem to have a very bright future ahead. It’s easy to forget the failed Dark Universe experiment was just a few years ago.