Universal’s Monsterverse, which was abandoned after horrible box office returns from 2017’s The Mummy, is now expected to return.
The newest entry is said to be a new Dracula film that Karyn Kusama, director of Destroyer, will be helming. Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions is currently in the middle of setting up the film and will also be producing. Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, who have collaborated with Kusama on films like Destroyer and The Invitation, will be writing the script.
The news comes off of an impressive performance from the latest entry into Universal’s Monsterverse, The Invisible Man. The film had a No. 1 opening on Feb. 28 and has made $98.3 million at the box office so far.
Like The Invisible Man, which offered a modern spin on the classic H.G. Wells novel, this new Dracula film would take place in contemporary times. The Dracula announcement also follows the announcement of another legacy monster project being set up, an untitled horror thriller to be produced by James Wan. The new batch of films are said to be stand-alone, moderately budgeted efforts, instead of big blockbuster entries within an interconnected movie universe.
Kusama has a lot of experience in the world of horror. The director was behind the cult classic horror film Jennifer’s Body and she’s also directed a number of episodes of series like HBO’s The Outsider, based on the Stephen King horror-crime novel, and Showtime’s Billions.
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