Classic Monster Reboot - Dark Universe

[zg44]

Interestingly, Jason Blum was asked if he'd want to take the DU..and as a result,

He should...; it's such an obvious fix for the Dark Universe.

Make a bunch of <$10 million budget reboots of the DU monsters.

Then begin to merge them if they recoup their budgets...; all these studios that are trying to launch cinematic universes are starting way too big. You've got to lay the groundwork with some lower budget features that hit it out of the ballpark.

DU is never going to be a series of billion dollar movies. But it can be a very profitable small scale cinematic universe in the same vein as Unbreakable/Split/Glass but many more movies than that.

 

[Clive]

He should...; it's such an obvious fix for the Dark Universe.

Make a bunch of <$10 million budget reboots of the DU monsters.

Then begin to merge them if they recoup their budgets...; all these studios that are trying to launch cinematic universes are starting way too big. You've got to lay the groundwork with some lower budget features that hit it out of the ballpark.

DU is never going to be a series of billion dollar movies. But it can be a very profitable small scale cinematic universe in the same vein as Unbreakable/Split/Glass but many more movies than that.

Or... you know... The Conjuring Universe.

I think the big issue internally remains: are these period meetings (evoking a more gothic, simpler time) or modern day retellings? The Mummy 2017 ended up looking blander than bland due to its present day trappings.

 

[Disneyhead]

Guillermo del Toro or Quentin Tarantino.

Or both.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Guillermo del Toro or Quentin Tarantino.

Or both.

Or Jordan Peele..or both Del Toro, Jason Blum, and Peele all working together.

 

[Clive]

As much as I respect what Jordan Peele did with Get Out, let's not pretend he's quite at the level of Guillermo Del Toro or Quentin. He's still a first-time filmmaker (albeit a very promising one).

If anything, Guillermo should do it, but it'll be tough to get him to work at a Blumhouse budget when he can basically work anywhere he wants right now.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

I would rather want Del Toro on a producing and consultative hand, to ensure a flow of quality that is stable, than to see him direct.

Get horror/thriller directors with the reputation to work on the films (alongside writers who can translate the characters in a realistic but fantastical way).

 

[quinnmac000]

Del Toro can't as he has an exlusive deal with Fox Searchlight for live action films.

 

[Clive]

Del Toro can't as he has an exlusive deal with Fox Searchlight for live action films.

No, he doesn't. He has a first look deal, which works a bit differently.

Again, it's a moot point. Guillermo Del Toro isn't doing any monster movies at a Blumhouse scale, and he isn't doing Creature, his favorite, when Shape of Water exists. (You could maybe convince him to do Frankenstein down the line.)

 

[quinnmac000]

No, he doesn't. He has a first look deal, which works a bit differently.

Again, it's a moot point. Guillermo Del Toro isn't doing any monster movies at a Blumhouse scale, and he isn't doing Creature, his favorite, when Shape of Water exists. (You could maybe convince him to do Frankenstein down the line.)

Its not a first look deal and his deal is specifically to produce liveaction horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films.
Guillermo del Toro Signs Overall Deal With Fox Searchlight | Hollywood Reporter

Anyways, Blum is better anyway thanks to all his new foreign connections to be able to expand the Dark Universe into something universal and bringing in monsters from other countries. He just needs to make sure he gets unique and creative directors while not making the films overly commercial which was the downfall of the Mummy.

 

[Legacy]

Thinking about this, I'm all in on Blum tackling the DU. Universal needs to reverse the scale of what they were trying to do and he's good at small. Exceptional, really.

But here's the dilemma: what is the POINT of a shared universe here? Fight bad guys? Get blackout drunk in Vegas? Fly a house to Venezuela? It's probably the first one, which means any monsters that linger between films need to be your "weak" ones (Dr. Jekyll, John Talbot, Invisible Man). All them to form your team, they THEY fight your Mummys and Vampires and Frankenstein's undead horde.

Casting-
Jon Talbot: Cillian Murphy/Michael Fassbender
Invisible Man: Daniel Kaluuya/Michael B. Jordan (a Spike Jonez joint or Jordan Peele film because oh my god that would be amazing).
Dr. Jekyll: Taissa Farminga/Chloe Grace Moretz

Those are your first 3 films, with Van Helsing (JK Simmons) as your Nick Fury.

 

[Clive]

Thinking about this, I'm all in on Blum tackling the DU. Universal needs to reverse the scale of what they were trying to do and he's good at small. Exceptional, really.

But here's the dilemma: what is the POINT of a shared universe here? Fight bad guys? Get blackout drunk in Vegas? Fly a house to Venezuela? It's probably the first one, which means any monsters that linger between films need to be your "weak" ones (Dr. Jekyll, John Talbot, Invisible Man). All them to form your team, they THEY fight your Mummys and Vampires and Frankenstein's undead horde.

Casting-
Jon Talbot: Cillian Murphy/Michael Fassbender
Invisible Man: Daniel Kaluuya/Michael B. Jordan (a Spike Jonez joint or Jordan Peele film because oh my god that would be amazing).
Dr. Jekyll: Taissa Farminga/Chloe Grace Moretz

Those are your first 3 films, with Van Helsing (JK Simmons) as your Nick Fury.

Definitely with you on "what's the point." Even the big budget version wasn't clear there - Tom Cruise is the Mummy now. So what?

EDIT: Realized I read a few of the scripts a while ago, so I do know where it was going. It was stupid! Basically you've got Jekyll trying to build his team, and a rival shadowy guy trying to build his own team. Monsters would've been divided down the middle between the two allegiances.

Would be VERY into a Jordan Peele Invisible Man movie...

Jason's a shrewd guy, but I wouldn't put all your Dark Universe eggs in the Blumhouse basket. It's going to be very challenging for them to pull off the sort of scenic and FX we'd want out of these movies -they'd almost certainly have to be set present day (not necessarily a bad thing) and extremely limit the use of the monsters themselves. I realize that isn't all that far off from the original, relatively cheap Monsters films, but I think audiences expect a little more out of studio releases today in terms of pacing/effects quotient.

The great thing about Blumhouse is filmmakers could take far more risks with these films. They have to keep fitting the giant four quadrant blockbuster mold right now, and they really only managed to pull that off with The Mummy by making it Indiana Jones. (Which... worked!)

 

[MrBlonde]

First off, I didn't know this thread existed, but I'm glad it does! It's really sad to see people getting excited for DU like I was before it faded into whatever state it is today.

I don't think that Universal would be so willing to give up control of their IP over to Blumhouse but who knows? To me all that matters is a good script and creative vision. They swung for the fences and missed their mark. The company wants to only make blockbusters but you should just focus on a good movie with a low enough budget to always be able to call it a success. These monsters have been iconic longer than caped crusaders and are part of the foundation of modern pop culture. Someone needs to pull them up to the position where they belong.

But here's the dilemma: what is the POINT of a shared universe here?

Easy recurring
revenue? They just don't need to over saturate it. It should be wrapped up in the world building as part of the movie, not stopping the plot of the current movie to do a dog and pony show of easter eggs to say coming soon.

 

[quinnmac000]

I think they would do better simply making it a brand instead of a franchise in which all monster movies fall under. They don't need to do Avenger level crossovers but maybe some come across now and then. I think the biggest thing they need is to add new monsters and make the new films not produced by committee and sentimental, psychological, and actually story driven. Make me actually care about the characters.

 

[Legacy]

Easy recurring
revenue? They just don't need to over saturate it. It should be wrapped up in the world building as part of the movie, not stopping the plot of the current movie to do a dog and pony show of easter eggs to say coming soon.

I was referring to the over-arching narrative.

And I'd argue the monsters work best small. The only "blockbuster" UCM film to actually bust blocks was Mummy... Which wasn't about the Mummy. In fact, horror in general is most successful "small." A clear conflict, relatable characters, and effective/consistent atmosphere. Blumhouse is really good at that.

The UCM, deep down, are human. They're ostracized, violent sometimes, and suffering. That's why they've endured as characters. Any shared universe featuring them must tap in to that. It's actually why Marvel has succeeded where DC fails. So dial it back. Return to their roots. Then you have a shot at succeeding.

 

[Lucky Planet]

He should...; it's such an obvious fix for the Dark Universe.

Make a bunch of <$10 million budget reboots of the DU monsters.

Then begin to merge them if they recoup their budgets...; all these studios that are trying to launch cinematic universes are starting way too big. You've got to lay the groundwork with some lower budget features that hit it out of the ballpark.

DU is never going to be a series of billion dollar movies. But it can be a very profitable small scale cinematic universe in the same vein as Unbreakable/Split/Glass but many more movies than that.

I really dont understand why the movies need such huge budgets. and lets not forget that 50 million went to Tom Cruise alone

If they make these movies with practical effects they could save some money, why does the mummy need to have CGI minions? practical mummies could work just as well, if they get a very talented group to do the movements, they could be very creepy and not need CGI, the movie doesn't even need the big effects that the Tom cruise movie had (or the last Dracula movie had)
we dont need giant sand storms attacking cities or giant CGI clouds of bats attacking an army of people......

A good director and a good script could make a very low key mummy movie. or Frankenstein, or Creature of Black Lagoon.... why cant these stories be more contained? we dont need people traveling across the world and having giant CGI Scenes.

why cant we have these movies taking place in just one city and have the monster attack one group of people.... i really dont get it.
the monster doesn't even need to be shown very little. it can be shown a lot if they find a way to make it Practical. these monsters dont need to be CGI, (Except the wolfman maybe) the girl in the mummy herself was not even cgi, not was Dracula... BOTH of them looked very good by themselves. all the cgi went into those ridiculous big scenes.

i think these movies can work very well and make them be like the new Halloween, have the hero fight the monster in a smaller scale.

Thinking about this, I'm all in on Blum tackling the DU. Universal needs to reverse the scale of what they were trying to do and he's good at small. Exceptional, really.

But here's the dilemma: what is the POINT of a shared universe here? Fight bad guys? Get blackout drunk in Vegas? Fly a house to Venezuela? It's probably the first one, which means any monsters that linger between films need to be your "weak" ones (Dr. Jekyll, John Talbot, Invisible Man). All them to form your team, they THEY fight your Mummys and Vampires and Frankenstein's undead horde.

Casting-
Jon Talbot: Cillian Murphy/Michael Fassbender
Invisible Man: Daniel Kaluuya/Michael B. Jordan (a Spike Jonez joint or Jordan Peele film because oh my god that would be amazing).
Dr. Jekyll: Taissa Farminga/Chloe Grace Moretz

Those are your first 3 films, with Van Helsing (JK Simmons) as your Nick Fury.

they will fight the ultimate evil of course. the big Satan

and stop the apocalypse....