My thoughts on why 'the Mummy' failed to launch Dark Universe

[-JKR-]

Never would of predicted James Wan's Conjuring shared horror universe would do better that Universals.

Because he simply focused on making a great horror movie, and it paid off. And THAT'S - how you build a franchise. You build upon something that you know the audience loved. And the only way to make something the audience can truly love is to make a fresh, exciting movie and not a cash-grab which takes a page from other successful blockbusters, hoping to trick people into watching a mediocre and bland by-the-numbers flick.

Alex Kurtzman directing? Seriously? Bill Condon helming Bride of Frankenstein? Man, talk about getting studio puppets on board, who are game for whatever the execs are cooking up...

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Never would of predicted James Wan's Conjuring shared horror universe would do better that Universals.

As much as I'm a huge fan of Wan's Conjuring and Insidious franchises, there's no way that should have happened if Universal had handled this right.

Because he simply focused on making a great horror movie, and it paid off. And THAT'S - how you build a franchise. You build upon something that you know the audience loved.

Exactly.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

http://www.superherohype.com/news/407453-is-universals-dark-universe-dead-kurtzman-and-morgan-depart#/slide/1

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Some interesting comments attached to that SHH article.

 

[Silvermoth]

It's funny that comic book pulp style superheroes have never been more in vogue and horror films have never been more in vogue but unfortunately here you can't seem to meld them properly

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

It's funny that comic book pulp style superheroes have never been more in vogue and horror films have never been more in vogue but unfortunately here you can't seem to meld them properly

I think it's the superhero factor that's put a fly in the ointment (not that that's any excuse). Universal don't appear to just want a shared universe for their monsters (along the lines of the one they had in the 40s), they seem to want a CBM-type shared universe.

 

[Silvermoth]

I just want to chuck in my two cents and say I liked the Benicio del toro wolfman movie

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

I just want to chuck in my two cents and say I liked the Benicio del toro wolfman movie

You are not alone!

 

[Mysteryman]

You are not alone!

No, you most certainly are NOT!

 

[scifiwolf]

I liked what Joe Johnston was going for and what he was able to accomplish with what he had.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

I liked what Joe Johnston was going for and what he was able to accomplish with what he had.

He pretty much came in at the last minute, didn't he?

 

[Deck Rickard]

Yeah, I enjoyed the Wolfman film too. It looked great and the performances were pretty good, though Hopkins was a little hammy.

 

[scifiwolf]

He pretty much came in at the last minute, didn't he?

If I remember correctly, yes. I wish that movie had been pushed back eight months for further development and a Halloween release.

 

[Lighthouse]

The Wolfman is not that good, but dear God, Rick Baker's Wolfman make up is some of the best ever done in Hollywood history.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Anyone else have a soft spot for An American Werewolf in Paris? I know people view it as inferior to its London-based predecessor but I always liked it better for whatever reason. Maybe because I always liked Tom Everett Scott and I wish he would have broken out into bigger stardom.

 

[Lighthouse]

Using a hand drawn Disney style werewolf would have been preferable to the CGI monstrosity in that film.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Anyone else have a soft spot for An American Werewolf in Paris? I know people view it as inferior to its London-based predecessor but I always liked it better for whatever reason. Maybe because I always liked Tom Everett Scott and I wish he would have broken out into bigger stardom.

I don't put it anywhere near the level of AAWiL but I enjoy watching it if I happen to catch it. Certainly wouldn't own it.

 

[DACrowe]

Because he simply focused on making a great horror movie, and it paid off. And THAT'S - how you build a franchise. You build upon something that you know the audience loved. And the only way to make something the audience can truly love is to make a fresh, exciting movie and not a cash-grab which takes a page from other successful blockbusters, hoping to trick people into watching a mediocre and bland by-the-numbers flick.

Alex Kurtzman directing? Seriously? Bill Condon helming Bride of Frankenstein? Man, talk about getting studio puppets on board, who are game for whatever the execs are cooking up...

Well I wouldn't call the Annabelle movies "great horror." I wouldn't even say "good." But yes The Conjuring was great so that helped a lot.

As for Bill Condon. He hasn't made anything really good for over 10 years now (wow), but once upon a time he was a really good writer and a solid director. He also has a special affinity for Bride of Frankenstein and its director James Whale, who he made a beautiful fictional-biopic about in 1998 called "Gods & Monsters," and it netted Ian McKellen an Oscar nomination.

So I actually think that was a pretty good choice, well above Kurtzman. But yeah, I don't think it's going anywhere now.

 

[DACrowe]

The Wolfman is not that good, but dear God, Rick Baker's Wolfman make up is some of the best ever done in Hollywood history.

From a technical and visual level the movie is fabulous. Rick Baker's makeup is stunning. The costumes, cinematography, sets, and locations are gorgeous. Danny Elfman's score is hypnotic (his last good score too that I can recall).

But oy, the script is a mess, the direction and pacing is stilted, and Benicio is miscast. It's ironic, because he got the movie made, but he just was not comfortable playing old school melodrama, IMO as Talbot. I liked the rest of the cast though, even if Hopkins was just a side of ham.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

As for Bill Condon. He hasn't made anything really good for over 10 years now (wow), but once upon a time he was a really good writer and a solid director. He also has a special affinity for Bride of Frankenstein and its director James Whale, who he made a beautiful fictional-biopic about in 1998 called "Gods & Monsters," and it netted Ian McKellen an Oscar nomination.

Loved that film. Good performance by Brendan Fraser too.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

This is what Universal should sit down and do. With the films everone has just mentioned previously, what were the good points and bad points and try to build on the good points & eliminate the weak ones.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Quite a while back there was talk of connecting the Insidious and Sinister franchises. I remember reading an interview with Blum, where he talked about using the MCU as a model. That seems to have gone quiet.

 

[Silvermoth]

Maybe marvel is hoovering up all the talent that makes great pulpy type films?

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

It's almost as though companies look at the MCU and somehow manage to come away with the message that the interconnectivity is more important than the films themselves, that it's enough on its own to draw in the crowds and guarantee success.

 

[metaphysician]

I still contend that "monsters as heroes" *could* work. The problem, or at least one of the problems, is that Universal decided not to do that. Instead of making the Mummy the hero, they kept the Mummy as the villain, and tried to make the hero Tom Cruise.