The classic Universal Monsters are coming back, and they already have some major star power. Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe are starring in "The Mummy" next week, Javier Bardem will play The Monster in "Bride Of Frankenstein, " and Johnny Depp is slated to play The Invisible Man in an upcoming movie as well.
However, two more huge names are on the shortlist for Universal and their "Dark Universe" franchise. The studio wants Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to portray The Wolfman and Angelina Jolie to play The Bride of Frankenstein.
Dwayne Johnson as The Wolfman
Interestingly, the Universal Monsters franchise was supposed to start a few years ago with the 2010 release of "The Wolfman." That starred Benicio Del Toro as Larry Talbott/The Wolfman and Anthony Hopkins as his father. However, a number of things worked against that movie.
One of the big selling points was using practical effects by makeup maven Rick Baker ("An American Werewolf in London"). However, the studio removed him during production and replaced his work with horrible CGI and the movie died a horrible death, making $139 million worldwide on a $150 million budget.
Now, the "Dark Universe" is starting over from scratch with "The Mummy, " and Universal wants The Rock to play Larry Talbott, the cursed Wolfman.
There is one huge problem and a stumbling point to this casting. The Rock is starring in DC Comics, nd Warner Bros. "Black Adam" movie and Warner Bros. is planning to sue Universal for using the title "Dark Universe." If Warner Bros. sues Universal, there is little chance they will allow Johnson to appear in both "Black Adam" and a Wolfman movie.
Angelina Jolie as The Bride
Instead of setting up Frankenstein's Monster (Javier Bardem) in his own movie, the "Dark Universe" franchise is jumping straight to the second movie in the series, "Bride of Frankenstein." Word is that Universal backed an Angelina Jolie passion project called "By the Sea" with the hopes that she would make a big budget movie for them, either "Wanted 2" or "Bride of Frankenstein."
For those who never watched the classic Universal Monster movies, "Frankenstein" told the story of a creature made out of body parts from cadavers by Dr.
Frankenstein. The mad scientist then brought The Monster to life and it had a childlike mind before villagers hunted it down and tried to kill it.
In "Bride of Frankenstein," The Monster forced someone to make him a mate so he would no longer be alone, only for The Bride to recoil in horror when she sees him for the first time. It is unclear whether this is an origin story for The Bride or if the two Monsters have been living in hiding all these years.
Bill Condon ("Beauty and the Beast") will direct "Bride of Frankenstein." It is the second movie in the "Dark Universe" franchise and will come out in 2019.
