WOLF MAN Remake Producer Addresses The Movie's Place In Universal's "Dark Universe"

WOLF MAN Remake Producer Addresses The Movie's Place In Universal's "Dark Universe"

Universal Pictures is still thought to be building to a "Dark Universe" of monsters, and Wolf Man producer Ken Kao has now revealed whether the remake fits into that. Find his comments in full here...

By JoshWilding - May 16, 2024 04:05 AM EST
Filed Under: Horror
Source: Screen Rant (via Fear HQ)

The Wolf Man remains one of the horror genre's most iconic movie monsters and in 2017, there were plans for him to take centre stage in Universal's ill-fated "Dark Universe."

The idea of an MCU-inspired shared world featuring these creatures crumbled when The Mummy bombed, leaving the studio with no other choice than to part ways with Hollywood heavyweights like Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Russell Crowe, and Javier Bardem.

There's been some chatter about Universal attempting to revive its Dark Universe, but filmmaker Leigh Whannell's Wolf Man won't be part of them (just like his last monster tale for the studio, 2020's The Invisible Man).

"As an outsider, I would say that The Mummy's Dark Universe, in my humble opinion, felt like it was reactive to what was going on with all the superhero stuff - the MCU and DC universe," producer Ken Kao tells Screen Rant (via FearHQ.com). "And we know there's been a lot of talk about what happened with all that [in] the last year or so." 

"I guess you could call it maybe more like the Joker approach," he continued. "In my opinion, especially if you're going to do it for contained pieces, like Blumhouse is really good at doing, [it] makes a lot more sense to me. So that's a good playbook."

In other words, these movies will remain standalone, meaning no crossovers or Avengers-style team-up. Universal's original plans called for Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Wolf Man, the Phantom of the Opera, the Invisible Man, and the Creature From the Black Lagoon to be among those that "assembled" in the Dark Universe. 

Despite the franchise being scrapped, new projects revolving around each of them are in various stages of development. Chloé Zhao, James Wan, and Scarlett Johansson are among those attached to them. 

Universal's Wolf Man is a classic horror character that first appeared in the 1941 film The Wolf Man. Portrayed by actor Lon Chaney Jr., he became one of the iconic figures of Universal's horror movie universe, alongside Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Mummy.

In the movie, Larry Talbot, played by Chaney Jr., returns to his ancestral home in Wales and gets bitten by a werewolf while defending a woman from an attack. After being cursed with lycanthropy, Talbot transforms into a werewolf during the full moon and terrorizes the countryside, struggling with his own inner beast.

The Wolf Man is characterized by his tragic nature, as he grapples with the curse and the havoc it wreaks on his life and the lives of those around him. 

Wolf Man will star Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Sam Jaeger, and Matilda Firth, and is set to hit theaters on January 17, 2025.

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LSHF
LSHF - 5/16/2024, 4:54 AM
"The idea of an MCU-inspired shared world..."

WTF! Universal created the shared universe when they first started putting their creatures in the same films back in the 1940s!

ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 5/16/2024, 4:54 AM
This is always where other studios go wrong.

They tryhard to force a universe with the first movie and of course it doesn't work.

Then someone just comes along and makes a good movie, strong enough to start a shared universe franchise and they say "Nah, this is too good to be a part of that".

That is where they fail.
IAmAHoot
IAmAHoot - 5/16/2024, 7:59 AM
@ObserverIO - They really jumped the gun with this photo.

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Blergh
Blergh - 5/16/2024, 8:26 AM
@ObserverIO - IMO “Wolf Man” shares a universe with “Dracula Untold”. Meanwhile I’m putting “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” and “Abigail” in the same universe given the same studio and tone being very alike
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 5/16/2024, 8:29 AM
@Blergh - You mean the Anthony Hopkins Wolf Man right?
Blergh
Blergh - 5/16/2024, 9:39 AM
@ObserverIO - yes! The one with Del Toro
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 5/16/2024, 6:56 AM
Cool , I’m fine with that…

I will say that I found the original premise when Gosling was attached that was Nightcrawler-esque about a reporter that gets bitten to be more intriguing then the current one about a family being terrorized by a creature which seems a bit more generic to me.

Anyway , I do hope it turns out well since the cast is nice!!.
dragon316
dragon316 - 5/16/2024, 7:51 AM
Wow another remake how old is other remake? Ten eight years old?
Forthas
Forthas - 5/16/2024, 7:52 AM
It is funny because there was already a monster universe (sort of) that had the potential to be like a Marvel shared universe. The Underworld series had a pretty good underlying mythology and like the X-Men had a social message about accepting difference and class warfare. While it is currently under the ownership of Sony, Universal could maybe just buy it from Sony, put some money behind it and build out that world.

People are interested in vampires and Werewolves, not so much the Mummy and Frankenstein's monster, so the focus could have remeained on those two fueding monster factions. In fact, if they had the opportunity to do so, they could also purchase the Twilight franchise and retell the story in a darker and less silly way in the Underworld universe. That would potentially rival the super hero universe....at least DC.
AnungUnRama
AnungUnRama - 5/16/2024, 2:02 PM
@Forthas - Interesting idea, but imo underworld was put into a corner with Awakwning ist time Jump and the plot where Vanpires and Lycans have been exposed to the world. It needs a dort of reboot or Future Movies need to be set before Awakening after Evolutions or even before rise of the Lycans.

The idea of integrating other famous monsters into the franchise came up before btw. There where Plans for a Underworld I, Frankenstein crossover
Forthas
Forthas - 5/16/2024, 2:41 PM
@AnungUnRama - I don't understand why a combined Underworld/Twilight would be painted into a corner. If it is because the existence of Vampires and Werewolves was made widely known in Awakening, I don't think that is too large of a hurdle toovercome. For example in the re-imagined Underworld/Twilight cross over, instead of Edawrd being hunted by the Vampires because he made their existence known have Bella be a wewrewolf (without it being known to her) thus the vampires hunt them because of the intermingling of the two species. A lot of the same beats from the original Twilight films would still be maintained. Jacob would love Bella because perhaps he beleives she shouldmlive out her life as one of them. I would definitly write OUT the garbage about Vampires sparkling, and the extra "super powers" some of the vampires have and replace it with a special "skill" they have that makes them uniique. For instance while all vampires run fast maybe one runs faster than all the others.

I saw I Frakenstien and that film was garbage. Thank god their was not a crossover. In fact, it would have been weird to link those two films because I beleive the big bad in Underworld (Victor) was portayed by the same actor who played the big bad in I Frakenstien.

BTW...if they did ever adopt this approach, they would not have to limit it to just those two franchises. the same way Marvel adapts comic book stories into films, they could take old Vampire and Werewolf films and remake them in that world so there would be an un-ending amount of interconnected stories to tell. Other candidates for that treatment include [VAMPIRES] Fright Night, Lost Boys, Near Dark, and the Hunger / [WEREWOLVES] Company of Wolves, Silver Bullet, The Howling, and Wolf.
IAmAHoot
IAmAHoot - 5/16/2024, 7:57 AM
Uh... well duh. After The Invisible Man, especially from Whannel, this seemed like it too would be its own thing.
Blergh
Blergh - 5/16/2024, 8:28 AM
@IAmAHoot - I was hoping they’d make a unique universe with auteur tales on classic horrors after “Invisible Man” put the formula upside down.
Something like Wolfman being a sexually frustrated man injected with rabies and turning into a rabid wolf like creature; Jekyll/Hyde being a tale of shizophrenia or smith
IAmAHoot
IAmAHoot - 5/16/2024, 8:42 AM
@Blergh - Yeah, I love the idea of that. People just get so precious about the properties that even if you mention trying something a little different they flip out like yours is the only version of the story that will exist once its made. My (jokey) idea for a Jekyll & Hyde tale years ago just featured the scrawnier character and then when he went into Hyde mode it was just a raging Jason Statham, no make-up or effects, haha.

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dracula
dracula - 5/16/2024, 10:25 AM
The Wolfman should have been the first film in a dark universe

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