Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley to helm Little Monsters for Universal

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The Universal Monsters sparked my imagination from day one; Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Invisible Man, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and more, they're all classic characters. After Universal Studios failed to jump-start the series with the Dark Universe franchise, they shifted their approach away from an interconnected universe and instead focused on bringing in creative directors with distinctive visions for the classic monsters. Leigh Whannell's THE INVISIBLE MAN proved to be a success, and there are plenty of other Universal Monster-related projects now in the works.

THR has reported that Josh Cooley, who directed TOY STORY 4, has been tapped to write and direct LITTLE MONSTERS, which will be a live-action/hybrid monster feature which sources have described as "a love letter to classic Hollywood and the history of filmmaking with a story that takes a multigenerational approach to the monsters." It's expected that this will be a more family-friendly version of the classic Universal Monsters, which is based on the artistic outlines and character designs of Crash McCreery, a concept artist who has worked on films such as PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, JURASSIC WORLD, KONG: SKULL ISLAND, RANGO, and more.

Following the success of THE INVISIBLE MAN, a few of the other Universal Monster projects in the works includes a DRACULA adaptation from Karyn Kusama (DESTROYER) as well as THE WOLFMAN, which is slated to star Ryan Gosling (FIRST MAN) with Leigh Whannell in talks to direct.