Bride of Frankenstein Writer Says Project Is Still Alive

Following the release of The Mummy back in 2017, Universal Pictures' planned Dark Universe franchise of Universal Monsters reboots was planning to make Bride of Frankenstein the next project, and while that initial iteration of the project might have been scrapped, writer of that script David Koepp recently shared that he was able to reimagine that script and that the studio is reportedly seeking directors for this new take on the project. Bill Condon had previously been attached to the project, though casting difficulties and budgetary issues resulted in the endeavor being delayed multiple times before that iteration was quietly scrapped.

"That was one thing I did during quarantine – I brought back Bride of Frankenstein into a place where I kind of always wanted it to be," Koepp revealed to Collider. "Universal was very gracious to let me try again. Because they had geared up and shut down famously in the Dark Universe fiasco. Well, not fiasco, but disappointment. So I have a version now and they have a version that we all really like. I think they're talking to directors now."

The Dark Universe was officially announced back in 2017, but when the first installment, The Mummy, hit theaters months later and was a financial and critical disappointment, the concept was effectively abandoned. Earlier this year, writer/director Leigh Whannell delivered a new take on The Invisible Man which fully reimagined the original concept of the character, earning both financial and critical success. Following the effectiveness of the scaled-down production, a new take on Dracula has been announced, with reports also claiming a reboot of The Wolf-Man was being developed.

"It's not the great big, $150 million extravaganza with giant movie stars," the writer admitted. "It's not as scaled down as Invisible Man but much more reasonable, doable thing, with, I think, a really cool idea and it's all present day."

He added, "To their credit, what I really admired about Universal is they threw their hands up and went, 'Hold on. This isn't working out. Let's stop and think for a year or two.' I thought that was really smart. And big corporations don't often do that. There aren't a lot of New Coke moments where they go, 'This is not as we hoped. We're going to stop and go off on this other direction.'"

When the Dark Universe was originally announced, Javier Bardem was confirmed to play Frankenstein's Monster in a future project, but with the studio moving forward with Bride of Frankenstein before the famous monster's own adventure, it's unlikely that Bardem will be involved in the new film.

Stay tuned for details on Bride of Frankenstein.

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