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Universal’s Donna Langley Opens Up About Their Failed Dark Universe

Universal had an idea. They were going to bring together a group of remarkable monsters to see if the could become something more. That idea however ultimately failed. Universal kicked off their Dark Universe with The Mummy (2017) starring Tom Cruise. The film was a critical disaster (16% on Rotten Tomatoes) but did score a box office haul of $410 million. That was not enough to impress the higher ups at Universal though, who scrapped their plans. The Dark Universe would have seen the addition of talented actors and actresses such as Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie and Javier Bardem. Langley spoke to THR and said this regarding the failed launch

“We had an attempt at interlocking our monsters and it was a failed attempt, What we realized is that these characters are indelible for a reason, but there’s no urgency behind them and certainly the world was not asking for a shared universe of classic monsters. But we have gone back and created an approach that’s filmmaker-first, any budget range.”

Johnny Depp was set to star as The Invisible Man but Universal moved past that and instead went another direction with Elisabeth Moss and Oliver Jackson-Cohen. Blumhouse is producing and famed horror director Leigh Whannel is directing. The budget for the film is also reported at $9M which is beans compared to what Universal spent on The Mummy and probably way less than they would have for Depp’s The Invisible Man.

While Universal seems to have moved away from a shared monster universe; Should The Invisible Man do terrific numbers, I could see Universal possibly rethinking their idea. But with a more modern and budget friendly approach I am sure.

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