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| Credit: Universal Studios/Pixabay.com |
What got me reading classic horror and sci fi novels such as
Frankenstein and Dracula was their Universal movie
adaptations. I grew up watching these films on television when I was
a kid and because of that became interested in reading the books.
That’s why I’m excited to hear that Universal is planning to
produce several remakes of its classic horror films one of which has
already been given a director.
Universal Monster Movie Remakes
According to
Variety, Leigh Whannell has been hired to direct and write the
script to the remake of Universal’s The Invisible Man.
The movie, based on H.G. Wells’s novel of the
same name, is part of a plan to remake several of Universal’s
classic monster films, a plan that has moved away from a previous one
that was to interconnect Universal monster characters under one story
arc called the “Dark Universe”. Even though it has not
been said which movies beyond The Invisible Man will be
remade, they will probably include Frankenstein and Dracula
since these two have become iconic of Universal horror and sci fi
films of the 1930s through ‘50s and remain part of today’s pop
culture at least on the level of humour and camp.
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| Credit: Universal Studios/Wikimedia Commons |
Variety says
that Universal is trying to come up with ways to remake the monster
characters so they will be relevant to a modern audience. The studio
wants to keep the characters open to filmmakers so they can create
their own stories around them. The potential problem I see in this is that if
filmmakers are given too much room to recreate the characters and
their stories it may cause the remakes to drift even further from the
novels that some of those movies are based on such as Invisible
Man, Frankenstein and Dracula. The original
Universal films had already done this quite a bit. Hopefully many of
these filmmakers will be such dedicated fans of the original movies
that they won’t redo the storylines and characters too much.
However, going back too close to the original novels for those movies
based on them could take away too much of Universal’s
interpretation of the characters. And as with any movie, whether
remake or original, the monster films should relate to today’s
issues to some extent since all art is a reflection of the time
period it’s made in.
Universal Monsters Board Game
Although it hasn’t
been said if it’s inspired by the Dark Universe story arc
originally proposed by Universal, io9 says that Ravensburger, maker
of games and puzzles, will release a board game called Horrified:
Universal Monsters. io9
explains that this strategy game will allow players to make
their “own shared universe” of classic movie monsters. The game
is for two to five players who work together to defeat seven of
Universal’s most famous monsters that come as miniature figures,
including Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, and the Invisible Man.
However, it seems that the game’s creators would have given players
the option to take up the roles of the monsters. Many horror and sci
fi nerds who grew up being bullied by kids for being different
identify with some of these characters, such as Frankenstein’s
Monster, that are hunted down in the movies for similar reasons.
Horrified will be available in stores the August 1st
for $34.99, io9 says.
Dune Release Date
The Dune
remake, which is being directed by Denis Villeneuve, has been given a
release date of November 20th, 2020, according to io9.
The original movie, directed by David Lynch,
released in 1984. The movies are adapted from Frank Herbert’s 1965
novel of the same name. Villeneuve’s Dune will be in both
IMAX and 3D formats and will star Timothee Chalamet as lead character
Paul Atreides.
Do you think
Universal should stick closer to the original novels when it remakes
the monster films that are adapted from them, films such as
Frankenstein, Dracula and The Invisible Man? Do
you think the Dune remake will stay more true to the original
novel than the original 1984 film did?
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