Three weeks on from the announcement of Universal’s wildly ambitious Dark Universe and it seems any cautious optimism has now been replaced by a crippling feeling of dread – and we’re not just talking about the oncoming Princess Ahmanet and her reign of biblical terror.
Mere hours after industry polling service NRG slashed its domestic forecast for The Mummy – down to $35 million from the original estimate of $40m – and the first reviews for Alex Kurtzman’s long-brewing reboot are beginning to find their way online. Spoilers: it’s not looking good. Whether this damning critical consensus has much of a bearing on the film’s box office performance will be told in time, but at least for now, Universal and Kurtzman – one of two architects pulling the strings behind the Dark Universe, the other being Chris Morgan – are still keen to construct a brave new world of gods and monsters.
It’s one that will, through time, carve out room for The Phantom of the Opera, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and a smattering of other famous creatures/monsters plucked from the archives. But one project that has Alex Kurtzman particularly excited is Bride of Frankenstein. Beauty and the Beast helmer Bill Condon is attached to the nascent horror pic, which is reportedly eyeing Angelina Jolie for the title role.
There’s still nothing to report on the casting front just yet, but at least when it comes to the script – one penned by David Koepp – Kurtzman believes horror fans ought to be very, very excited.
David Koepp wrote a brilliant script. A brilliant script with a very unique structure and a central relationship that I think is gonna be relatable to a lot of people while also being very true to what I believe people love about Bride. Here’s the weird thing about Bride Of Frankenstein. It is one of the weirdest movies you’ll ever see in your life. It is such a strange film. What amazes me is that the bride doesn’t show up until, what, the last ten minutes of the film? Doesn’t say anything, rejects Frankenstein, he pulls a lever and the building explodes and that’s the end of it. It’s not like she has long monologues, it’s not like you get to know her character, it’s not like she goes out into the world. There’s almost no screen time with her.
That sense of mystery will remain intact when it comes to Bill Condon’s Bride of Frankenstein, but the writer-director also hinted at the possibility of a subversive take on the character.
And yet everybody remembers the iconic look, the hair, who she was. Articles have been written, there’s Halloween costumes. It’s an enduring character because there’s something mysterious about her and that look, and the idea that she was created to serve another man. Which is gonna be an interesting thing to tackle in this day and age. It might be something we subvert in our film. It will be really interesting to see where we go because I actually think that Bride is maybe a lot more accessible as a character than you may think. Mostly because she’s not really a character yet based on the original Bride Of Frankenstein.
Universal’s Dark Universe swings its doors open on Friday, June 9th with the release of The Mummy and at least based on those first reviews, the studio’s monster franchise is off to a bumpy start. Can Bride of Frankenstein help course-correct the series further down the road? We’ll be keeping a close eye on Condon’s reboot as more information begins to emerge.
