A few years ago, Universal Pictures hired producers Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan to oversee their endeavor to reboot their classic monster movie properties within a new shared cinematic universe – a universe that would come to be known as Dark Universe.
Under Kurtzman and Morgan, the plan was devised to connect movies featuring new versions of the Mummy, Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Phantom of the Opera, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon through the presence of
a mysterious multi-national organization known as Prodigium. Led by the enigmatic and brilliant Dr. Henry Jekyll, Prodigium’s mission is to track, study and — when necessary — destroy evil embodied in the form of monsters in our world. Working outside the aegis of any government, and with practices concealed by millennia of secrecy, Prodigium protects the public from knowledge of the evil that exists just beyond the thin membrane of civilized society… and will go to any length to contain it.
The Dark Universe began with this year's THE MUMMY and quickly found itself on shaky ground when that film underperformed at the box office (despite making over $400 million worldwide), the second film in the universe (a remake of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN to be directed by Bill Condon) was delayed over script issues, and Kurtzman and Morgan decided to leave Dark Universe to focus on other projects.
With the Dark Universe's overseers now gone, a lot of fans have been suggesting that monster-loving director Guillermo Del Toro should be the one to replace them. As it turns out, Universal offered the Dark Universe to Del Toro long ago and he turned down the opportunity… A decision he has come to regret.
During an interview with TimesTalks, Del Toro said,
I’ve said no to things that are enormous and I’ve never looked back. The only time I repent I didn’t do something was in 2007, when Universal in an incredibly gentle and beautiful manner said, ‘Do you want to take over the Monster Universe?' And they gave me the reins of several properties, and I didn’t do it. That I repent. So this is a confessional moment, I repent. That’s the only thing."
While Universal figures out if and how they're going to keep the Dark Universe going, Del Toro is preparing for the December 1st release of his latest film, THE SHAPE OF WATER (pictured above). A film that appears to have drawn inspiration from CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON.
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