Dark Army Director Talks the Film’s Inspirations and His Love of the Universal Monsters

Earlier this year, it was announced that Ghostbusters and A Simple Favor director Paul Feig would be developing the movie Dark Army, which would be set in the universe of the Universal Monsters, but fans were unaware of what the plot would explore and if the iconic monsters themselves would be appearing. While the filmmaker has yet to reveal all the details of his new film, he did reveal some of the films that inspired the all-new idea and what makes the franchise so special, detailing the ways in which some of those films will drive the overall tone and narrative of Dark Army.

“I want to bring that ookie spookie feel back to movies, but with these monsters you root for and understand at the same time,” Feig shared with ComingSoon. “I finished the first draft of the script and I’m so excited about it! I’m literally on fire about getting this movie made as soon as I can. I turned it into the Dark Universe people last week and they loved it. Now it’s going over to the heads of Universal, so we’ll see.”

Universal launched their planned Dark Universe of Universal Monster reboots back in 2017 with The Mummy, but with that film being a financial and critical disappointment, all plans were seemingly put on hold indefinitely. Feig’s comments about the “Dark Universe people” could confirm that the studio still has those tentative plans, with Dark Army possibly helping pave the way for new entries in the franchise.

The new project is seemingly a labor of love, as Feig detailed his passion for those characters.

“I’m a mega-fan of those old horror movies. I call them more monster movies than horror movies, quite frankly,” Feig pointed out. “Horror movies to me now represent slasher and that kind of thing, which I don’t enjoy at all. I loved those old movies like Frankenstein. Bride of Frankenstein is probably one of the greatest movies of all-time. I love that movie so much, and there are some things from that movie that I’m using in this new movie Dark Army. But I really want to do a James Whale-ish, modern day version of a monster movie that is about these characters. What I love about monsters is they’re outsiders, it’s just the most extreme version of outsiders. Frankenstein is one of the most sympathetic characters ever to be put on the screen, even though he does terrible things. He’s just looking for acceptance and love. If you read Mary Shelley’s book he’s a pure spirit who becomes evil because he just gets shit on constantly. Everybody just can’t get past the way he looks, and it turns him murderous.”

Whale directed Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man, some of the most acclaimed entries into the Universal Monsters series.

Feig added, “I want that level of humor in there. He took it seriously, but he’s still going, ‘We’re gonna have fun with this.’ There’s side characters that are fun. There’s stuff that’s a little over-the-top but in a real way, like you buy it? You buy those characters even though they’re way over-the-top. I never go, ‘Oh, they’re just all going look at how crazy we are, let’s make these ridiculous.’ No. These are just extreme personalities. I’m so excited to do this! I just hope they let me do it.”

Stay tuned for details on Dark Army.

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