Universal had big plans for 2017’s The Mummy. The Tom Cruise vehicle was supposed to launch the studio’s horror-infused answer to Marvel’s the Avengers in the form of the Dark Universe, starring such big names as Johnny Depp as the Invisible Man, Javier Bardem as Frankenstein’s Monster and Russell Crowe as Mr. Hyde (who debuted in The Mummy). Unfortunately, however, there was just one snag: the film flopped as hard as a mummy tripping over its own wrappings.
Nowadays, director Alex Kurtzman is focusing on his TV work, as he’s shepherding the Star Trek franchise on the small screen. And while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he touched on how The Mummy didn’t turn out the way he expected but said that it did teach him to always go with his own storytelling instincts.
“I’m no longer involved in that and have no idea what’s going on with it. I look back on it now [and] what felt painful at the time ended up being an incredible blessing for me. I learned that I need to follow my own instincts, and when I can’t fully do that, I don’t think I can succeed.”
By the sounds of it, then, and this isn’t shocking in the slightest, Kurtzman’s hands were tied on the movie by a lot of studio meddling.
The director went on to explain what he loves about the original Universal monster movies, something he hopes will be focused on if the Dark Universe continues on without him.
“Those films are beautiful because the monsters are broken characters, and we see ourselves in them. I hope those are the movies that they make; I want to see them.”
The thing is, it doesn’t look like there’s much life left in the Dark Universe anymore. Bill Condon was supposed to helm a remake of Bride of Frankenstein, but that’s been put on indefinite hold. Maybe Universal should just hand the keys to the kingdom over to Blumhouse’s Jason Blum then, who says he’d be keen to get his hands on the studio’s classic creatures? We’d certainly be ok with that.