Spider-Man Producer Recruited to Reboot Bride of Frankenstein

It’s been just over two years since Universal Pictures‘ last attempt to get a new version of The Bride of Frankenstein off the ground, after the failure of Tom Cruise’s The Mummy put the “Dark Universe” version of it on ice for good. In a new report, Variety reveals the various creatives that have been approached about making a new version of the iconic movie monster, reporting that Spider-Man producer Amy Pascal has now been given the keys to the laboratory for the film. It’s unclear what direction Pascal will take the character in a new movie but the trade notes that she’s hired screenwriter David Koepp to work on the project with her. The film has also not officially been given a greenlight just yet.

“Amy expressed interest in being involved with The Bride of Frankenstein, and just as the studio has done with numerous other filmmakers, we empowered her to explore a new vision for the Universal monster character and come back with a new and inventive take,” a Universal Pictures source told the outlet. “Nothing has been solidified in an official capacity.”

Also worth noting that Pascal had previously been in talks with Spider-Man director Sam Raimi to collaborate on the film, but with Raimi not in talks to direct Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Raimi has been an outspoken fan of the classic Universal monsters before, developing his 1990 original superhero movie Darkman with those movies in mind. In addition, Variety reports that A Quiet Place director John Krasinski “tinkered” with an idea for a movie with the Universal Monsters characters, but has seemingly moved on.

The biggest question mark about Pascal’s project with the Bride of Frankenstein is if she will in the end collaborate with Angelina Jolie for the film. Jolie has been attached to play the part for years at this point and according to the trade’s sources “remains committed to the character as long as the right creative team comes along with it.” That could present a problem here as Jolie and Pascal have a history that became very public during the infamous Sony email hack, when Jolie was attached to a remake of Cleopatra being developed by Pascal and producer Scott Rudin, who disparaged the Oscar winning actress in leaked emails. Variety goes on to say that other sources say Jolie has “moved on” from playing the character.

After the failed experiment of the Dark Universe, Universal Pictures has a new mandate about their classic monster characters, encouraging filmmakers to strike on their own and develop movies that are not connected at all and speak to their own visions. Among those in the work are the upcoming The Invisible Man, plus Paul Feig’s Dark Army, Renfield (a film focusing on Dracula’s henchman), and Elizabeth Banks’ The Invisible Woman.