Universal Sets 'Bride of Frankenstein' for 2019



Universal has set a date for Bride of Frankenstein, and debuted the first photo of the stars it has assembled for its shared universe, the newly titled Dark Universe.

Bride of Frankenstein, from director Bill Condon and screenwriter David Koepp, will open Feb. 14, 2019. In a statement, Universal chairman Donna Langley described the project as the "story of a very modern woman in a very classic tale." Universal said casting for the lead character, first played by Elsa Lanchester in the 1935 classic, will be announced soon.

The studio is pushing ahead with its cinematic monsters universe as it readies to release The Mummy in theaters June 9. The reboot stars Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe and Sofia Boutella. It is directed by Alex Kurtzman.

Assembled in the first-look photo of the Dark Universe stars are Johnny Depp (The Invisible Man), Javier Bardem (Frankenstein’s Monster), Cruise (Nick Morton), Crowe (Dr. Jekyll) and Boutella (The Mummy). Crowe's Dr. Jekyll is set to provide the glue linking the films together, with his mysterious organization Prodigium charged with tracking the world's monsters.

Looks cool. I'm not sure "Nick Morton" is a thing. They should have listed Tom Cruise's part as "some dude."

Looking at IMDB, Tom Cruise has played three Jacks, three Nicks, two Davids, and a Lestat, but never a Tom or Thomas.

I sense some photoshopping going on. Cruise's 5'7 (5'5) vs Crowe's 6'0.

Forced perspective...see how Crowe's shoulder is in shadow? that's coming from Cruise, who's a few inches ahead of him - you can also see where their feet are on the floor - Crowe is farther back.
It's not Hobbit obvious, but it's there.

It's not Hobbit obvious, but it's there.

Yes, I looked at all that before I posted. Look at Crowe's foot- it's right at the back foot of the chair. And Cruise is standing between the front and back leg on the right side. Crowe's not standing that far back. It's like a Byrne commission.

Universal Takes 'Bride of Frankenstein' Off Release Schedule

Universal has removed monster movie Bride of Frankenstein from its release schedule.

The feature, which is meant to be part of Universal's Dark Universe series, was originally slotted for Feb. 14, 2019.

Bill Condon is set to direct the remake of the 1935 classic in which Javier Bardem is expected to play Frankenstein's monster. Angelina Jolie is in talks to star. Mission: Impossible scribe David Koepp is penning the screenplay.

“After thoughtful consideration, Universal Pictures and director Bill Condon have decided to postpone Bride of Frankenstein," the studio said in a statement. "None of us want to move too quickly to meet a release date when we know this special movie needs more time to come together. Bill is a director whose enormous talent has been proven time and again, and we all look forward to continuing to work on this film together.”

Condon recently spoke about the film's script, which he described as turning "everything on its head," from the classic work of filmmaker James Whale.

"This is Eve before Adam; the bride comes first. So in its own way — you know, we all know the Bride only exists for 10 minutes in the Whale movie. She's there and the movie's over. So I keep thinking [it's], in a way, at least a tribute to what Whale might have done if he'd made a third Frankenstein movie and he'd done it in the 21st Century," he told Collider.

The Dark Universe is meant to be the studio's banner that will house its new films based on its classic monster properties. This year's Tom Cruise-starring The Mummy was the first chapter in the cinematic universe, but it disappointed at the domestic box office with an $80 million pull. (The movie proved more successful at the foreign box office with $327 million in earnings.)

An Invisible Man movie, starring Johnny Depp, and a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde installment, starring Russell Crowe, are also in development, to be released under the Dark Universe title.

They should have gone in a scarier, more horrific direction, a la Stephen King's It, instead of a more action-superhero-Furious direction.

Universal's "Monsterverse" in Peril as Top Producers Exit

Universal's cinematic Dark Universe is in danger of being mummified.

Just five months after Universal released a much-discussed cast photo promising a slew of movies starring the likes of Johnny Depp, Russell Crowe and Javier Bardem — all drawn on characters like the Invisible Man, Wolf Man and Frankenstein in its stable of classic horror films — none of the projects appears to have a pulse.

Writer-producers Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan, who were hired as the monster universe architects, have departed the franchise, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. Kurtzman, whose deal with Universal lapsed in September, is focusing on television (he's an executive producer on CBS All Access' Star Trek: Discovery, and his overall deal with CBS involves more than a half-dozen shows), while Morgan has returned to the Fast and Furious franchise and is writing a spinoff for Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham.

In early October, Universal pulled the plug on preproduction that had started in London for Bride of Frankenstein — which was to have followed The Mummy as the second entry in the series — partly because execs felt the script by David Koepp and overseen by director Bill Condon wasn't ready. Angelina Jolie had been courted for the lead but is now not attached. Insiders insist Condon (Beauty and the Beast) remains attached, but no date has been set to resume work, and a Feb. 14, 2019, release has been shelved.

All this comes in the wake of Mummy's poor performance. Released in June, the Tom Cruise picture grossed a relatively paltry $409 million worldwide on a budget of $125 million-plus (some insiders place it considerably higher). That doesn't include marketing costs of at least $100 million.

Emblematic of Dark Universe's problems is the tony office building on the Universal lot that was revamped at considerable expense for the new venture. After being decked out in monster regalia, it now sits mostly empty.

Universal is exploring its options. One road involves offering the IP to high-profile filmmakers or producers (Jason Blum has been mentioned) with ideas for one-off movies not connected to a larger universe. And the studio could find a new architect who could overhaul the concept.

"We've learned many lessons throughout the creative process on Dark Universe so far, and we are viewing these titles as filmmaker-driven vehicles, each with their own distinct vision," says Universal president of production Peter Cramer. "We are not rushing to meet a release date and will move forward with these films when we feel they are the best versions of themselves."

The Mummy aside, the studio has had big wins in 2017. It boasts two $1 billion grossers (April's Fate of the Furious and July's Despicable Me 3), while sleeper hits like M. Night Shyamalan's Split ($278 million on a $9 million budget) and Jordan Peele's Get Out ($253 million on a $4.5 million budget) earned critical and commercial praise.

For Morgan and Kurtzman, it makes sense to move away from Dark Universe and back to Fast and Star Trek, note observers.

"This affords Alex Kurtzman more time for a project that is really working well: Star Trek Discovery," says New York-based freelance critic Jordan Hoffman, host of the official Star Trek podcast, who was in attendance of a Mummy screening that elicited unintended laughter from the crowd.

Is there hope for the Dark Universe? Yes, says comScore box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, pointing to Marvel and Sony's Spider-Man: Homecoming success after the franchise had lost its footing with 2014's Amazing Spider-Man 2 or Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok, which had an opening weekend that outperformed the two previous Chris Hemsworth-led solo outings. "It's never too late to course-correct," he says, "because with each movie, you get another shot."

"There's no way to give up on this. This is Universal's legacy," he adds.