Van Helsing Reboot Director Offers Update on Project’s Status

After the success of Insidious and Saw filmmaker Leigh Whannell’s 2021 Invisible Man horror-thriller reboot, Universal Studios has been on the move of turning its Universal Monsters IPs into an entire set of reboot films. Instead of the Dark Universe concept that would’ve seen Tom Cruise’s Mummy (2017) open the door to an entire Marvel-style Universal Monsters franchise universe, the new goal is aping Whannell’s unique and smart modern twist on classic lore. Filmmaker Julius Avery (Overlord) was tapped for a Van Helsing movie reboot, and there’s been an update on just where that project currently stands… 

Julius Avery’s latest film is The Pope’s Exorcist, which has Russell Crowe playing renowned Vatican exorcist, Father Gabriele Amorth. During an interview with Fangoria, Avery updated fans on what’s happening with his Van Helsing reboot for Universal. Long story short, Avery is currently in the scripting stages for the project (which he’s also directing), with James Wan acting as producer: 

“You mentioned James Wan before, and I’m a huge fan of his,” Avery said. “I’ve been wanting to work with him for a while. He’s a fellow Aussie, and yeah, we’re teamed up on a Van Helsing movie together, which I’m currently writing and intend to direct myself with James producing. But yeah, that’s still in motion. I can’t tell you much more than that, but I’m very, very excited about it!”

The Van Helsing character’s popularity is always just a step behind that of his nemesis, Dracula. Hugh Jackman played Van Helsing in a woeful 2004 action-horror film from The Mummy (1999) director Stephen Sommers, back when it seemed the filmmaker was building his own 2000s Universal Monster action franchise. That film didn’t lead to a bigger franchise, but we got a re-imagined Van Helsing TV series following the character of Vanessa Van Helsing (Abraham’s descendant), which ran from 2016-2021. 

Needless to say, there’s good reason for horror fans to be excited by what Avery and Wan are cooking up for their Van Helsing concept. Invisible Man hit a powerful thematic angle by combining the classic monster story with an extremely timely domestic abuse/gaslighting metaphor for the post-Me Too era. It’ll be interesting to see if Van Helsing works on more metaphorical terms that way, or if Avery goes with a more to-the-wall creature feature. Overlord’s mix of a genuinely thrilling WWII war drama and retro sci-fi-horror zombie flick suggests he can easily blend genres to make Van Helsing something fun. 

The Van Helsing reboot is in development at Universal Pictures.