Universal has announced a release date for the second film in their upcoming cinematic “Monsterverse.” The as-yet unknown title will arrive in cinemas on Friday April 17th, 2017; a date that’s thus far only snagged by the mystery monster pic.
It was back in July of this year that Universal revealed their plans for a cinematic universe. Their intentions are to revive the studio’s era-defining monster properties via a stream of individual features which will all interconnect. This type of move is obviously influenced by the all-powerful Marvel Cinematic Universe, Warner and DC’s almost-as-impressive ‘verse and Sony’s… well, let’s not even mention that. Despite facing stiff competition, the studio have a powerful duo at the controls, with Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan overseeing the entire rebooted franchise.
The first official entry, The Mummy, will arrive on June 24th, 2016. Fans of the bandaged romantic will recall that Stephen Sommers’ 1999 attempt to resurrect the mummified Imhotep proved to be a successful venture for the studio both financially and critically. Â The 2016 version that’s cooking up now is rumoured to reinvent the story completely, eschewing the 1920s storyline from the 1932 and 1999 efforts, and focusing on a modern day slant. Either way, with a script from Prometheus scribe Jon Spaihts and under the direction of Kurtzman, it’s got a wealth of genre talent to give it a new lease on life. Pardon the pun.
At this juncture, there’s little hard evidence as to what the second instalment will be, but we’ve obviously got a list of those iconic monsters of yesteryear to rifle through for inspiration. The most popular ogres include Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein and The Creature From The Black Lagoon, so it’s a safe bet that it’ll be one of those. Better yet, could this be the mystery title that Universal hired Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley to write? Whatever the case, expect the rumour mill to crank into overtime as speculation begins on Universal’s 2017 monster movie.
