Universal has officially unveiled the “Dark Universe”, the name for its shared universe of monster movie reboots now kicking off with The Mummy next month. It’s also confirmed some major cast members and the next ghoulish entry in the franchise.
Image: Universal
Announced in a press release today, Bride of Frankenstein, due out 14 February 2019, will be directed by Beauty and the Beast‘s Bill Condon as the next entry in the series — taking the place of a previously planned, unrevealed title originally due for release on 13 April 2018, which has now been removed from schedules. Casting for the titular Bride is underway, with an announcement due soon. The movie and its rebranding for the Dark Universe was also accompanied today by a teaser highlighting a new theme composed by the legendary Danny Elfman, which will appear in The Mummy and recur throughout future movies in the franchise.
Aside from the Bride of Frankenstein announcement, Universal also further confirmed that the previously-rumoured Johnny Depp and Javier Bardem will be coming aboard the Dark Universe as the Invisible Man and Frankenstein’s Monster, respectively, in future films — joining Russell Crowe, Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella as main stars in the spooktacular monsterverse.
The Dark Universe cast. Image: Universal.
Crowe in particular will play an important role as Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde, who is re-imagined in The Mummy and future Dark Universe films as the head of a secret supernatural investigation group called the Prodigium, which will tie all the films together:
At its organising principle, Dark Universe films are connected by a mysterious multi-national organisation known as Prodigium. Led by the enigmatic and brilliant Dr. Henry Jekyll, Prodigium’s mission is to track, study and — when necessary — destroy evil embodied in the form of monsters in our world. Working outside the aegis of any government, and with practices concealed by millennia of secrecy, Prodigium protects the public from knowledge of the evil that exists just beyond the thin membrane of civilized society…and will go to any length to contain it.
We’ll bring you more on Universal’s Dark Universe as we learn it.