Universal Monsters

[Rowsdower!]

I wonder just how much of their old monster catalog Universal is planning on pulling from. Are we gonna see The Old Dark House or This Island Earth again? What about the Black Cat.

If they ever remake This Island Earth, they'll need to find an actor who can can insert "R's" into every other word the way the original Dr. Cal Meachum could.

"Wairt a merment!"

"Jurst like Vermornt."

"Tharnk Gard irts stirll herrrr."

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

i wonder if they will pull this like they did Dracula untold because its bombing in reviews.

ive wanted a new creature and bride for years but to be fair if its to this standard im not to fussed

 

[samsnee]

They can't just forget this is part of their Dark Universe like Dracula Untold. They did that big announcement with picture of Cruise, Depp, Crowe, etc.

Hopefully they keep the budgets cheap for the rest of them. Invisible Man will probably be expensive because of Depp, which is bad idea.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

i wonder if they will pull this like they did Dracula untold because its bombing in reviews.

No chance.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

i wonder if they will pull this like they did Dracula untold because its bombing in reviews.

I don't believe they will, but that is a huge problem with cinematic universes; you fail and you have the change to create a bad universe since the foundation is bad.
At the smallest flaw, all can come tumbling down like a house of card.

 

[The Guard]

Why do people keep thinking this?
Remember how much money WB put into a GL franchise?

GREEN LANTERN wasn't an entire catalogue of popular monster concepts.

It was a relatively unknown concept, not one with a proven track record of cinematic success and popularity.

Remember how much money SONY put into there Amazing Spider-Verse?

Again, not the same thing. SONY had the chance to get in with an established franchise and lessen their financial risk. Not the same circumstances at all.

If anything if they already put a lot of money in this, they're more likely to pull back instead of just throwing more money at this.

They will absolutely rethink it. They will not, however, completely abandon attempts to make profitable movies out of their classic monster characters and potentially tie those films together.

 

[Flint Marko]

Isn't this their second failed attempt in three years to get this universe going?

Why would they keep throwing good money after bad?

 

[dude stannis]

Yeah Dark Universe isn't going anywhere. But Kurtzman sure as hell isn't coming back.

 

[MadVillainy]

GREEN LANTERN wasn't an entire catalogue of popular monster concepts.

It was a relatively unknown concept, not one with a proven track record of cinematic success and popularity.



Again, not the same thing. SONY had the chance to get in with an established franchise and lessen their financial risk. Not the same circumstances at all.



They will absolutely rethink it. They will not, however, completely abandon attempts to make profitable movies out of their classic monster characters and potentially tie those films together.

Switch out GL for any of the tens, if not hundreds, of failed franchise starters. You're not making sense. How are they not the same thing. They're trying to start a franchise in the Dark Universe. SONY and WB tried to start franchises and/or universes with their properties. THey didn't so they rethought their strategies and the TASM universe doesn't exists and the DCCU birthed from GL didn't happen

I'm not saying they won't stop trying to make versions of their creatures. I'm saying the Dark Universe might not happen or at the least it'll become radically different

 

[samsnee]

I don't believe they will, but that is a huge problem with cinematic universes; you fail and you have the change to create a bad universe since the foundation is bad.
At the smallest flaw, all can come tumbling down like a house of card.

Yeap that's what Feige basically said. If Iron Man didn't work then we wouldn't have the MCU today. So RDJ is worth every penny.

 

[MadVillainy]

And Iron Man shouldn't have worked either. It's a miracle it did. Barely a script, a guy who hadn't been famous for acting in years leading the charge, a director who didn't have the best blockbuster experience (yes I know he did Zathura)

But those crazy guys did it

 

[The Guard]

Switch out GL for any of the tens, if not hundreds, of failed franchise starters. You're not making sense. How are they not the same thing. They're trying to start a franchise in the Dark Universe. SONY and WB tried to start franchises and/or universes with their properties. THey didn't so they rethought their strategies and the TASM universe doesn't exists and the DCCU birthed from GL didn't happenq

Because it's not the same thing, and you know it.

There's a difference between trying to start a franchise, and trying to start multiple franchises in a "universe", which is what Universal is doing here.

I'm not saying they won't stop trying to make versions of their creatures. I'm saying the Dark Universe might not happen or at the least it'll become radically different

You keep right on saying that. We shall see.

The Dark Universe is barely a thing at the moment. How can it become "radically different" when we've barely even seen what it is intended to be?

As I've pointed out elsewhere, they likely made a commitment to making at least a couple of films in this "universe" when they announced the thing.

 

[Flint Marko]

Not enough people care about a Universal Monsters shared universe to justify these insane budgets.

Give em half the money and let them make an interesting, R-rated film. If it does well, do it again. Repeat as necessary. Shared universe. Boom. That's free advice, Hollywood. I know you won't take it but there it is.

 

[Boom]

And Van Helsing can be your connective tissue.

 

[Wildcard]

Not enough people care about a Universal Monsters shared universe to justify these insane budgets.

Give em half the money and let them make an interesting, R-rated film. If it does well, do it again. Repeat as necessary. Shared universe. Boom. That's free advice, Hollywood. I know you won't take it but there it is.

But...but that just makes too much sense!

Seriously, you'd think this is the approach they would've went with instead of: "hey, why don't we redo the classic Universal Monsters but make it like a comic book movie?!"

Just an excuse to do the most insane, over-the-top **** imaginable, and that's not what made the originals the immortal classics they are. They told stories that people could actually be enthralled by. And from all I've seen of the Mummy, even though I am slightly interested it does seem like it'll favor style over substance. Hell, the reviews themselves tell that tale.

 

[2kt09]

But...but that just makes too much sense!

Seriously, you'd think this is the approach they would've went with instead of: "hey, why don't we redo the classic Universal Monsters but make it like a comic book movie?!"

Just an excuse to do the most insane, over-the-top **** imaginable, and that's not what made the originals the immortal classics they are. They told stories that people could actually be enthralled by. And from all I've seen of the Mummy, even though I am slightly interested it does seem like it'll favor style over substance. Hell, the reviews themselves tell that tale.

According to RT, the blurb proclaims a longing for the Fraser flicks.

 

[TheVileOne]

Because it's not the same thing, and you know it.

There's a difference between trying to start a franchise, and trying to start multiple franchises in a "universe", which is what Universal is doing here.



You keep right on saying that. We shall see.

The Dark Universe is barely a thing at the moment. How can it become "radically different" when we've barely even seen what it is intended to be?

As I've pointed out elsewhere, they likely made a commitment to making at least a couple of films in this "universe" when they announced the thing.

You say it's barely a thing but they've created an actual brand and logo for a movie. They set up a writer's room and a number of films for the "Dark Universe."

I'm just curious what you expect here Guard? Have you seen the movie yet? Do you think this shared universe is salvageable? I mean it very well might be.

DCEU wasn't looking too hot until Wonder Woman came out. So maybe Universal can turn this ship around.

Not enough people care about a Universal Monsters shared universe to justify these insane budgets.

Give em half the money and let them make an interesting, R-rated film. If it does well, do it again. Repeat as necessary. Shared universe. Boom. That's free advice, Hollywood. I know you won't take it but there it is.

I think that'd be the best strategy. Lower budgets and focus on delivering movies that are actually dark and have true moments of horror, chills and suspense. And if one one works, go from there. Let it happen more naturally.

 

[BatOnTheWing]

I really want to see the Dark Universe succeed.
That's the main reason why I went out to support The Mummy.
I had a feeling that it wouldn't be great, but I'm hoping they
correct the mistakes that they made with this one.

If they're going to have a "Dark Universe", they really
need to go back to basics and make true horror, thriller films.
This was anything but. At the very end of it, The Mummy was
entirely underwhelming. As a character, and story, The Mummy
deserves much better than what it received.

Hopefully they do continue on with the Dark Universe.
They just need to make some serious changes, or it'll definitely
bomb critically and financially.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Penny Dreadful wasn't my favorite show, but it had great production values and it was solidly executed. But most of all, it was a dark show full of dread and suspense. There was action and even some humor at times, but it largely a show about thrill and chills. It wasn't about turning the monsters into popcorn adventure fare.

At the same time, I'm not sure how you take that type of material and make it more massively appealing without compromising it at the same time. I think you simply have to figure out a way to reduce the budget and keep it like basically R-rated.

Absolutely loved Penny Dreadful. Wonderful show, and a much better nod to Universal's classics than THIS train wreck.

Funny thing is, when the show abruptly ended, it seemed like they were setting up a new storyline featuring the Mummy, lol....

 

[TheVileOne]

Absolutely loved Penny Dreadful. Wonderful show, and a much better nod to Universal's classics than THIS train wreck.

Funny thing is, when the show abruptly ended, it seemed like they were setting up a new storyline featuring the Mummy, lol....

Yeah I don't believe at all they were only planning for three seasons. They did give the show an ending at least so credit to that. However, it's also clear they were seeding in future storylines for another season.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

Yeah Dark Universe isn't going anywhere. But Kurtzman sure as hell isn't coming back.

I sure hope so...

 

[TheVileOne]

Yeah Dark Universe isn't going anywhere. But Kurtzman sure as hell isn't coming back.

You say that, but Warner Bros. kept Zack Snyder after Dawn of Justice.

 

[chamber-music]

They should of tried to get a proven successful horror/action filmmaker like James Wan to godfather their Dark Universe franchises.

 

[The Shape]

I just want my Phantom movie at this point, and I don't care if it's part of this "universe" or not.

The Invisible Man is another one that I think has immense potential.

 

[DACrowe]

Honestly, The Wolfman 2010 was almost there. It had a lousy script, terrible ending, miscast lead, and cost way too much money. But visually it looked great, it nailed what people wanted out of the Universal monsters, and it updated it to an R-rated, old fashioned gothic passion play with Oscar winning makeup, and really underrated cinematography, set design, and costume achievements.

Basically get a better director and script, and lead, and make those kind of movies for less (it didn't need as much CGI as it had).

But the Universal Monsters are never going to be Avengers superheroes. That is what Universal wanted. If they are wise they may be changing their minds after this weekend. I still am curious to see what Bill Condon could do with the Bride of Frankenstein concept. But only if he is allowed to make not a generic blockbuster piece of junk.