Last year, Universal Pictures teamed up with Epic Games and their video game Fortnite to create We Will Be Monsters, four animated shorts that reimagined the classic Universal Monsters – and then opened the door for them to enter the world of Fortnite. The first short in the series premiered back in October during the Shortnitemares Festival, part of the game’s Halloween event. Now that the other three have been released, Universal has put the four shorts together and released them on their YouTube channel. You can watch the 9 minute compilation at the bottom of this article.
We Will Be Monsters was directed by Rick Famuyiwa, who was chosen for the job because he was familiar with Epic’s Unreal Engine sets, having directed a few episodes of The Mandalorian. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Famuyiwa also impressed with “his vision for reimagining the characters.” Famuyiwa and Universal Filmed Entertainment Group worked with Epic’s Unreal Engine and animation vendor Plastic Wax for almost eight months to create this short mini-series.
Over the course of these shorts, we’re introduced to new versions of Frankenstein’s Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, the Wolfman, and the monster hunter Van Helsing. The We Will Be Monsters voice cast includes Chemon Theys as the Bride, Jerome Velinsky as Dracula, Joey Vieira as Wolfman, Emmy Saheki as the Mummy, Victory Ndukwe as Frankenstein’s Monster, and Glaston Toft as Van Helsing.
Universal’s Abhijay Prakash said,
This is us evolving and building our IP and content for different formats. We’re merging narrative storytelling with gameplay. … This is another manifestation of our monsters, and they have never been depicted this diverse.”
To find out how Famuyiwa and his collaborators reimagined the classic monsters and made them a more diverse group, check out We Will Be Monsters right here:
