Beginning with this summer’s release of "The Mummy." Universal Studios has announced its plans to release a string of movies providing modern twists on the classic Dark Universe films we know and love. Films such as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "The Wolfman," "The Bride of Frankenstein," and "The Invisible Man" will all undergo a revitalization as a way to reintroduce the classic horror genre to newer audiences.
The Bride of Frankenstein will be the next film of Universal’s Dark Universe resurgence while Javier Bardem is slated to be playing Frankenstein’s monster amid talk of Angelina Jolie as his reanimated bride. What’s more exciting is that Hollywood heavyweight and eccentric great Johnny Depp is confirmed to be playing the consumed and deranged scientist of H.G. Wells’s "The Invisible Man."
With strong leading actors at the forefronts of these films it may be too easy to assume that the remakes will be formidable undertakings of the original 1930s and 1940s classics, because as we all know not all remakes make are as strong an impression as their original predecessors. For instance, the first wave of the revival of Universal’s classic horror film genre, 2017s "The Mummy," did not make a big splash with audiences. It averaged a mere 15% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Of course, not everyone shares the same opinions as online critics and movie reviews, so such ratings should be taken with a grain of salt. The only way to measure the success of the Dark Universe lineup is to go out, watch them, and make an honest judgment for oneself. As a deeply rooted fan of classic films and the classic horror genre, I for one am looking forward to the chance of seeing classic horror films and scares in a new light and hopefully the writers, directors, and their teams do the classics justice.
