After relaunching its monster-movie library with the hit The Invisible Man, Universal Pictures is continuing to build up its development slate and has its sights on one of its more iconic non-monster characters. Sources tell Deadline that Universal is developing an original horror/thriller inspired by the studio’s classic monster legacy set in the world of Van Helsing, with Julius Avery (Overlord) directing and James Wan producing through his Atomic Monster banner.
(H/T: GeekTyrant) You see, I remember the 2004 VAN HELSING. …I really wanted to like that movie. There were parts that I did like. But I wasn’t broken-hearted when they never made a sequel. Caveat auteur.
You left out the exciting possibilities of sequel, prequel, parody, and completely unrelated 1980’s coming of age movie.
The Invisible Man relaunched the franchise?
Are they sure?
I seem to have some vague recollection of a horror movie that came out before The Invisible Man. Involved a classic character. Might have had a big name actor in it. Tom… Cruise…? Maybe?
Nah… I’m sure I’m just imagining things.
I see your confusion. The franchise shimmy is all about reselling a catalog because people are by and large completists. Conning rubes into thinking knowledge of a bunch of old stale entertainment will make them better able to appreciate new stale entertainment is a central pillar of this.
Lets use this Universal pile of shite as an example.
Every movie now launches a cinematic franchise before it’s release. – That was the unremarkable Dracula Untold. (est. profit 117 M)
THREE (3) years later that mediocre effort was retroactively absorbed by the marketing department of and deemed related to Mr. ‘Splody Running’s Mummy. (est profit 215 M) With neither plot nor characters to tie the the two together the word ‘sequel’ was off the table, so ‘reboot’ it is. Unreported – the number of rubes conned into watching the Dracula film they ignored 3 years before because ‘franchise’.
THREE (3) years later the marketing department has been coopted by the politikal commizat and the completely unrelated Grrrl Power propaganda piece The Invisible Man (generously est profit 123 M) relaunches a franchise that never existed. Unreported – any true review of the film (evidenced by the wildly differing audience and critic composite scores).
In 2023 we can expect to see another silly term (best bets are a ‘reimagining’ or a ‘refocusing’ or a ‘reestablishment’) pinned onto another unrelated film to promote back catalog sales and to con the rubes with the franchise shimmy.