Having already tried and failed in spectacular fashion to launch a shared universe focused on its roster of classic monsters, Universal went back to the drawing board to instead offer filmmakers the opportunity to tackle standalone properties, with Julius Avery stepping up to direct a Van Helsing reboot with James Wan set to produce.
That wasn’t even the first time, either, with Tom Cruise initially circling the lead role back in 2012, before another version spearheaded by Jon Spaihts and Eric Heisserer emerged three years later, only to fall apart at the seams when the Mission: Impossible icon ironically decided The Mummy was a better use of his time.
Avery was announced to be breathing new life into Dracula’s arch-nemesis in December of 2020, but we’ve heard barely a peep out of the project since. However, in an interview with Fangoria promoting his latest feature The Pope’s Exorcist, the filmmaker confirmed that Van Helsing is still on the cards.
“You mentioned James Wan before, and I’m a huge fan of his. I’ve been wanting to work with him for a while. He’s a fellow Aussie, and yeah, we’re teamed up on a Van Helsing movie together, which I’m currently writing and intend to direct myself with James producing. But yeah, that’s still in motion. I can’t tell you much more than that, but I’m very, very excited about it!”
It’s been almost 20 years since Hugh Jackman teamed up with The Mummy‘s Stephen Sommers for the $170 million monster mash that fell well short of expectations both with critics and at the box office, but it’s gone on to carve out a reputation as a cheesy camp classic that throws everything and the kitchen sink into the mix with reckless abandon.
Van Helsing V1.0 is far from top-tier cinema, but the muted reception to Avery’s Samaritan and The Pope’s Exorcist leaves us skeptical that it’ll even be able to match a predecessor that wasn’t all that great to begin with.