Punisher: War Zone director Lexi Alexander recently pitched a reboot of The Mummy to Universal. Many studios have attempted to copy Marvel’s formula for a shared cinematic universe, but few have been as successful. For every hit like the MonsterVerse, there are those that fail to launch like The Amazing Spider-Man or King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword. When Universal first announced their plan to oversee a connected universe based on their classic monsters, the idea was instantly met with skepticism. Their plan was to turn these movies into big budget blockbusters instead of lower budget horror movies, which seemed like the natural route.
Universal pressed ahead regardless, hiring Tom Cruise to front their remake of The Mummy. Johnny Depp and Javier Bardem were also lined up for The Invisible Man and Frankenstein’s Monster respectively, in a shared universe later dubbed the Dark Universe. However, The Mummy underperformed financially and faced a mostly negative critical response, and talk of another movie went quiet. The Mummy director Alex Kurtzman recently opened up on the reception the movie received and confirmed he’s no longer involved with the Dark Universe.
It seemed the Dark Universe was over before it really began, but it was recently confirmed Blumhouse would be producing an Invisible Man remake with Leigh Whannell (Upgrade) directing. It won’t be part of a shared universe, however, with Universal dropping that angle. Now Lexi Alexander has revealed on Twitter she pitched a reboot of The Mummy after she was asked to come in with a new take on any of Universal’s monsters.
It’s certainly a unique spin on the concept, especially in regards to depicting reverse Orientalism, but Alexander also states she doubts it will be greenlit. That’s a shame, since Punisher: War Zone is one of the most underrated comic book movies of the last decade, and she would definitely bring a different energy to a reboot. That said, given that the last Mummy movie only came out in 2017, the studio would probably like to reboot other famous monsters first before going back to that franchise.
Blumhouse taking over Universal monsters is definitely a move in the right direction because the Dark Universe was conceptually flawed from the start. That’s not to say blockbusters based on these monsters can’t work – The Mummy trilogy starring Brendan Fraser proved this – but they’re better suited to the horror genre. It will be exciting to see how Blumhouse reimagines icons like Dracula or The Wolfman too, and what kind of filmmakers they recruit to bring those monsters to life.
More: Why The Dark Universe Reboot Will Be A Success (This Time)
Source: Lexi Alexander
