James Wan working with Universal on Disturbia-style monster movie

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

James Wan's INSIDIOUS collaborators Blumhouse and Leigh Whannell have successfully rebooted THE INVISIBLE MAN for Universal Pictures, and now Wan is getting in on the Universal monster action himself. It has been revealed that Wan is working with Universal to develop a monster movie that he will be producing under his Atomic Monster banner. Wan will not be directing the film.

This monster movie doesn't have a title yet, but the screenplay is being written by Robbie Thompson, who worked on the show Supernatural for several years and wrote eighteen episodes. Described as being along the lines of DISTURBIA, the story is about 

a group of teens who discover that a neighbor is building a monster in his basement. Spoiler: The monster gets loose.

I think FRIGHT NIGHT is the cooler movie to reference when dealing with a teen suspecting his neighbor is a maniac, but they went with DISTURBIA for this one.

The fact that the neighbor is said to be "building a monster" has stirred up speculation that this could be a take on FRANKENSTEIN, which might bum out Jason Blum because he wants to make a Blumhouse FRANKENSTEIN.

We'll keep you updated as more is revealed about this Wan-Universal project. Other Universal monster movies in development include Elizabeth Banks' THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, Dexter Fletcher's RENFIELD, Paul Feig's DARK ARMY, Matt Stawski's musical MONSTER MASH, and a new version of THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN that producer Amy Pascal is trying to get off the ground.