When it was announced that Universal would be rebooting their Universal Monsters franchise into a shared universe akin to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Universal Studio chairman Donna Langley had the swell idea to take these iconic characters out of their horror settings and instead place them in the present day under the action-adventure genre. It's probably safe to say that this announcement did not go over well.
Alex Kurtzman, who will be overseeing the rebooted Universal Monsters franchise alongside Chris Morgan, spoke with Collider recently where he commented on the backlash that the "action-adventure" remark had provoked and promised that there will be horror in the new films:
Yeah, I think it’s a fair response and it’s actually not — I think there was some lost in translation quality to the way it was received, because I promise you there will be horror in these movies. It is our life goal to make a horror movie. The tricky part is actually how you combine horror with either adventure or suspense or action and be true to all the genres together. In some way, Mummy, dating all the way back to the Karloff movie, was the first to do that. It was the first to combine horror with — I wouldn’t say action, but certainly a lot of suspense. So it’s more about how you blend the different elements and stay true to each one, but there will definitely be horror in the monster movies…We will hopefully serve it up good and plenty.
Kurtzman, who is also directing THE MUMMY, mentions that pre-production on the Universal Monsters franchise is coming together:
The monster universe is coming together very very quickly, we’re very excited. There will be announcements soon. We have actually started doing a lot of design work, we’re getting scripts in, everything is feeling really really good, so I don’t want to curse it by saying too much to you, but it’s going well.
While I'm relieved to know that these films won't be completely abandoning their horror roots, I'm still not entirely sold on the concept of rebooting these classic characters. I grew up watching these films and, while they aren't overly frightening to modern eyes, their characters deserve more than to be turned into Universal's own brand of superheroes. In addition to Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan, other members of the rebooted Universal Monsters writers room include Noah Hawley (FX’s Fargo), Aaron Guzikowski (PRISONERS), and Ed Solomon (NOW YOU SEE ME). Kurtzman's THE MUMMY is set to open on March 27, 2017
Does knowing that horror will still play a part in the rebooted franchise make you feel any better? Or is this whole enterprise doomed for failure?