Rumor: Script For Universal’s The Mummy Reboot Is A Real Horror

In July of 2014, Universal selected Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan to oversee their Monsterverse, a cinematic universe comprised of classic movie monsters like Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolf Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, Bride Of Frankenstein and The Mummy. Four months later, Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley told The Hollywood Reporter they agreed upon a plan to take their movie monsters “out of the horror genre” and put them “more in the action-adventure genre and make it present day.” However, Kurtzman recently commented on the Monsterverse at TCA March of Death and stressed that horror elements would still be included.

“I think there was some lost in translation quality to the way it was received, because I promise you there will be horror in these movies. It is our life goal to make a horror movie,” Kurtzman explained (via Birth Movies Death). “The tricky part is actually how you combine horror with either adventure or suspense or action and be true to all the genres together. In some way, Mummy, dating all the way back to the Karloff movie, was the first to do that. It was the first to combine horror with — I wouldn’t say action, but certainly a lot of suspense. So it’s more about how you blend the different elements and stay true to each one, but there will definitely be horror in the monster movies…We will hopefully serve it up good and plenty.”

Besides being a co-architect of the shared universe, Kurtzman is set to direct The Mummy reboot, from a script written by Jon Spaihts. Though, the first review of the script claims that it’s a horror — but not in the good way. “I have been privy to a draft of The Mummy and I can tell you that while it is a horror to read,” Devin Faraci continued, “the horror elements were tangential at best and could have been replaced with aliens or a virus or any other bullsh*t that allowed soldier men to shoot at pixels.”

Universal has already pocketed $5.5 billion at the worldwide box office this year, so the studio can afford to take some risks with their Monsterverse.

The Mummy reboot is scheduled for release on March 24, 2017.