A new version of the 1954 horror classic THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON has been in various stages of development, off and on, for over thirty years at this point. The project has passed through the hands of writers and directors like Jack Arnold (the director of the original film), Nigel Kneale, John Carpenter, Ivan Reitman, Guillermo del Toro, Gary Ross (son of one of the original writers), Breck Eisner, Dave Kajganich, and Carl Erik Rinsch. The creature has been designed, sets have been built, but cameras have never started rolling.
Now that Universal is determined to follow in the footsteps of Marvel and create a shared universe for the monsters in their library, a remake of THE CREATURE might have a better shot than ever of making it into production, and development is continuing toward that goal with the hiring of screenwriter Jeff Pinkner to pen a new script.
Pinkner has primarily worked in television up to this point, writing for such shows as ALIAS, LOST, and FRINGE. He landed his first credit on a theatrically released film with last year’s THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, and has since been working with Akiva Goldsman on the screenplays for TRANSFORMERS 5 and Stephen King’s THE DARK TOWER. Goldsman is overseeing this new venture into THE BLACK LAGOON for Universal, so it makes sense that he would bring Pinkner on board with him.
Universal reportedly offered Scarlett Johansson the chance to star in the remake as the unfortunate girl who attracts the attention of the Gill-Man, but there has been no word on whether or not she was interested.