Despite previous reports that the Universal will uncharacteristically transform their classic monsters into super-heroic action stars,
Universal Monsters fans gave a sigh of relief when they were assured by Alex Kurtzman, director of the 2017 reboot of 1932’s
The Mummy, that
the upcoming cinematic universe will be composed of horror films. In a recent interview with
Slash Film, Kurtzman spoke even further on the topic of the cinematic universe and his reboot of
The Mummy.
When asked if he is ready to direct the types of films he often writes:
"I've had the good fortune of being able to write and produce a lot of them now. I've spent time with directors who've been very gracious with me about really allowing me to sit by their side. I've watched them do their thing. I've learned a ton. I don't think you can ever really stop learning, especially from people who are that amazing, so I feel ready. I feel really ready to go and Universal's been incredible about supporting our whole monster endeavor, so I feel like I'm going to have amazing people around me in order to help us launch it. My partner in the universe [is] Chris Morgan, I couldn't be partnered with anybody better as far as someone who understands big movies and big franchises."
How he is applying his television experience to the cinematic universe:
"I started in television and have been in television for a long time now, you approach television from a much more serialized longview place. So you think about not just what is the one story I'm telling, but how do I take this story and tell it over many seasons? That's obviously started to be what's happening with movies but the challenge is, you have to deliver each movie. Each movie has to be satisfying. You can't be so serialized that if you didn't see the movie that came before, you're really lost. The benefit of being able to exist in a shared universe world is that you can take more time to develop your characters. You can put them in situations that don't necessarily resolve right away. That's really exciting. It means that you don't just have to have a beginning, a middle and an end in which everything is resolved. Obviously as a writer, that's a lot of fun because it gives you a lot of room to grow."
On if we will see other monsters in
The Mummy reboot:
"We very well might."
On if
Dracula Untold will be part of the shared universe:
"The Mummy isn't connected to Dracula but I think that is an ongoing conversation."
When asked if setting
The Mummy in present day provides new opportunities:
"Absolutely, 100%. The minute it's modern day, the rules change. And yet, what's really exciting for me is how do you take this ancient creature and make an audience believe that they exist in modern day?"
When asked if his
Spider-Man spin-off,
Venom, could still happen:
"My focus is 100% on the monster universe right now. That's really where I'm spending my time."
SYNOPSIS:
A new epic action-adventure in a series produced and overseen by the creative team of Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek series) and Chris Morgan (Fast & Furious series), the UNTITLED UNIVERSAL MONSTER FRANCHISE FILM will follow THE MUMMY in their new initiative to revive and reimagine Universal’s classic monsters for a modern audience.