Jason Blum Would Be Interested in Developing Frankenstein Reboot

Last weekend saw the debut of the reimagining of The Invisible Man, which proved to be a hit with both fans and critics, with producer Jason Blum recently teasing that, as far as other Universal Monsters that are in need of a reboot go, he’d be interested in helping a filmmaker realize a compelling interpretation of Frankenstein’s Monster. This isn’t to say he has plans in mind for the new film, as Invisible Man writer/director Leigh Whannell has previously mentioned that it was a chance meeting that led to the inspiration for this film, but with this recent reboot’s success, it’s possible it will open the door for more creators to revitalize the classic concept of the monster.

“I’d love to do Frankenstein. I’ve tasked our filmmakers with trying to figure out just straight Frankenstein,” Blum shared with The Evolution of Horror podcast. “Again, I don’t know if someone else is doing it, I don’t know anything about it, but I would love to try and I’m waiting for the great idea. The Invisible Man, I agree, the best ideas feel like, ‘My gosh, it’s so obvious, why didn’t that happen before?’ If we could come up with something as good for Frankenstein, I’d love to try that.”

It would seem like a no-brainer to let Blum develop more monster movie reboots, with The Invisible Man sitting at 91% positive reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes and taking in $27 million in its opening weekend on a budget of roughly $7 million, but the film was still a risky endeavor.

Back in 2017, Universal Pictures announced its “Dark Universe” of monster movie reboots, which kicked off with The Mummy. That film earned abysmal reviews and, since it was set to launch the franchise, stalled all future plans for the franchise before it could earn a second installment. At the time, Johnny Depp was announced as playing the Invisible Man in an upcoming film, while Javier Bardem was announced to play Frankenstein’s Monster.

The lower stakes of this incarnation of Invisible Man allowed the filmmakers to get more ambitious, a gamble that has seemingly paid off.

These latest remarks echo comments he made earlier this year about his interest in the classic monsters.

“I’ve had some version of this conversation. Not a serious one,” Blum shared with Bloomberg about more monster reboots. “I would say to Universal, ‘What monsters are available that I could play around with?’ I would send those things to our seven favorite filmmakers. But I’m not going to talk to Universal until The Invisible Man comes out.”

The Invisible Man is in theaters now.

Would you like to see Blum develop a Frankenstein movie? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!