Netflix allegedly abandons ship on the star-studded remake of a horror classic that could have been folded into a shared universe

Rumor and hearsay can be particularly dangerous things – especially on the internet – so the breadcrumbs being left behind pointing in the direction of Netflix rebooting the worst shared universe in the history of cinema should have been taken with a substantial helping of salt from the very beginning.

What we do know is that three-time Academy Award winner Guillermo del Toro is developing a new spin on Frankenstein for the streaming service that has Andrew Garfield, Oscar Isaac, and Mia Goth under consideration for the three main roles, and one of the filmmaker’s longtime producing partners hinted that an entire monstrous mythology could be in the works.

That was swiftly followed by murmurs that Oscar-nominated director Maggie Gyllenhaal was set to remake The Bride of Frankenstein for the platform, with Christian Bale reportedly attached to play the doctor who cobbles together his own creation out of various body parts. Naturally, speculation mounted that the two events were connected.

It was listed on Production Weekly, but none of the creative players or even Netflix itself acknowledged that it was a project that genuinely existed. And yet, according to self-proclaimed “insider” Daniel Richtman, the company has now opted to abandon ship and distance itself from The Bride.

In essence, what we’ve got here is a do-over that’s not been officially announced purportedly being ditched by the streamer that may or may not have been set to produce it in the first place, with none of the would-be stars having commented or been confirmed, either. Despite that, it’s intriguing enough given rumblings of Netflix’s own Dark Universe that it’s worth keeping an eye on to see if the film ends up happening at all, even if it might not be on the market-leading on-demand outfit.