Luke Evans Hopes to Return as Dracula for Dark Universe

Earlier this year, the Tom Cruise-starring The Mummy officially kicked off Universal Pictures' shared universe of remakes featuring the classic Universal Monsters, dubbed the "Dark Universe." Star of the unofficial launching point of the Dark Universe, Dracula Untold's Luke Evans, revealed that he's hoping to return to that universe to reprise the character.

"I think it was a really enjoyable process for me," Evans told Screen Rant of his experience on Dracula Untold. "I think it definitely had a few flaws in it but I've had a lot of good feedback from and I get people asking me will there be a sequel. We left it very wide open, you know, this is a character who could transcend many different times and different periods of history. Who knows. I'd love to bring him back in some concept or context, but honestly, you know as little as I do when it comes with what is going in on the dream rooms of Universal Studios. I really don't know."

While Dracula Untold wasn't officially announced by Universal as the starting point of the shared universe of films, it was released following a slew of rumors about the project and serves as a prequel to the events of the original 1931 film.

Unfortunately, the film only brought in $56 million domestically and garnered only 22% positive reviews, according to review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Given this lackluster performance, the film was completely ignored when Universal began detailing plans about their Dark Universe.

Following the announcement that The Mummy would serve as the official launching point, the studio announced their multi-film plans, which included Russell Crowe playing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Javier Bardem playing Frankenstein's Monster and Johnny Depp playing the Invisible Man. An update of Bride of Frankenstein was announced as the second film in the series, which Beauty and the Beast director Bill Condon was attached to helm.

The Dark Universe ran into another snag with their launch, as The Mummy was another financial and critical disappointment. The studio recently announced that it was delaying production on Bride of Frankenstein, despite filming scheduled to have begun shooting in February.

Evans' tenure as Dracula might be over, but hopefully it comes as a slight consolation that no other plans surrounding the character have been announced.

[H/T Screen Rant]