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Let’s face it, the writing has been on the wall for Universal‘s Dark Universe franchise for a while now. Following the critical mauling and commercial flop of this summer’s “The Mummy,” the studio has been pretty quiet about their future plans. Ideas have floated around — Channing Tatum starring in “Van Helsing,” Gal Gadot leading “The Bride Of Frankenstein“ — but nothing has stuck.

Continue reading Universal’s Dark Universe Looks Like It’s Dead Before It Even Got Started at The Playlist.

Ryan Lambie Oct 17, 2017

This year's The Mummy reboot shares a surprising amount with the 1985 sci-fi horror classic, Lifeforce...

Nb: The following contains spoilers for 2017's The Mummy and 1985's Lifeforce.

See related  The Snowman review

When Universal Studios made The Mummy back in 1932, it was in the wake of Tut-mania: the fascination with Ancient Egypt following the discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb a decade earlier. As Egyptian-inspired symbols and designs began to appear on everything from jewellery to cigarette ads, stories began to circulate that the pharoah's tomb was cursed - and thus The Mummy, about a group of archaeologists who provoke the wrath of a long-dead Imhotep (Boris Karloff, hypnotic as always) emerged.

The Mummy's success was such that it became a long-running franchise: Universal made four direct sequels between 1940 and 1944, with a comedy spin-off, Abbott And Costello Meet The Mummy, joining them in 1955. The UK's Hammer Film...

This week’s list of horror-themed home entertainment releases is almost exhausting, as we have well over 30 titles coming our way on September 12th. For those who may have missed them in theaters earlier this year, you can now finally catch up with both The Mummy (2017) and It Comes At Night, as they’re both headed home on multiple formats.

Cult film fans should keep an eye out for an array of releases this Tuesday, including The Fox With A Velvet Tail, The Resurrected, the standard two-disc Blu-ray for Dario Argento’s Phenomena, The Creep Behind the Camera, Spider, and Don Coscarelli’s entire Phantasm series comes home in a five-disc DVD set from Well Go USA.

Other notable releases for September 12th include The Ghoul, Dead Again in Tombstone, The Hatred, Ruby, Tobor the Great, and Night Gallery: The Complete Series.

The Fox With A Velvet Tail (Mondo Macabro,...

Update: Umberto Gonzalez from TheWrap has a conflicting report that Jon Spaihts did a draft of Justice League Dark months ago and has since moved on.

DC’s Justice League Dark has been one of those movies stuck in development hell that just doesn’t seem to be able to catch a break. For years, Guillermo Del Toro was set to helm the film before he eventually moved on. Then, Warner Bros. managed to steal Doug Liman away from Fox’s Gambit and locked him down as director. Unfortunately, he walked out, too. Now, it seems WB are starting from scratch with the movie, including employing a new screenwriter to serve up a fresh script.

The Hashtag Show is reporting that Jon Spaihts has signed up for that aforementioned job. Based on his writing credits so far, he would seem to be the perfect candidate to showcase the supernatural, horror-infused side of the DC universe, so let’s hope this works out. He’s closely tied with Universal’s Dark Universe, too, as he provided the...

The Dceu news has been flying all over the place over the last few days. A Joker origin movie is in the works with Martin Scorsese producing, The Batman is a standalone movie, there has been confusion about Ben Affleck's involvement in that movie and oh so much more. Now we bring you an update on the often discussed Justice League Dark Movie movie, which has just hit another pretty major bump in the road. It looks like Warner Bros. is taking the project back to square one following a round of underwhelming presentations from directors.

Variety reporter Justin Kroll took to Twitter to provide a brief but telling update on Justice League Dark, which was confirmed to be part of the Dceu upcoming slate during San Diego Comic-Con. According to him, Warner Bros. recently met with several directors who pitched their visions for the movie, and it didn't go well.

Things aren’t looking too good for Universal’s Dark Universe.

As is standard for Hollywood’s interwoven franchises, the studio ran the risk of putting the cart before the horse by announcing big-budget fantasy flicks based on cinema’s most iconic creatures – think The Invisible Man and Frankenstein’s Monster – long before The Mummy became the first domino to fall. That was back in June, and after swallowing a financial hit in excess of $95 million, it’s clear that Universal’s classic monsters universe has endured a rocky start.

In the fallout of The Mummy, reports claimed that internal meddling and the so-called ‘Cruise Control’ effect hampered production, resulting in an overstuffed blockbuster that was so concerned with setting up the future that it failed to deliver a half-decent story centering on Sofia Boutella’s unruly deity. To make matters worse, we’re learning that director Alex Kurtzman is...

As you know, Universal Pictures is completely rebooting their classic Universal monster films and they are calling it the Dark Universe. We've already known that the vampire hunter Van Helsing is going to be a part of their big plans, and now they have a big actor that they hope to get on board. According to THR, That actor is Channing Tatum.

Tom Cruise was originally in talks to play Van Helsing before he was cast in The Mummy, which didn't do as well as the studio hoped it would. Regardless of it underperforming, the studio is going to press forward with their Dark Universe plans. Hopefully, the next movie, The Bride of Frankenstein, will be better.

I'd actually be ok with Tatum in the role of a young Van Helsing. The fact that they want him, gives us a little insight into the direction the studio wants to go with the character.

Universal’s Dark Universe is off to an inauspicious start. This summer’s The Mummy, directed by Alex Kurtzman and headlined by Tom Cruise, has made nearly $390 million worldwide, but only $79 million in the United States. That’s a bit of a disappointment, considering it features one of the world’s biggest remaining movie stars. But the studio is […]

The post Channing Tatum Eyed to Play ‘Van Helsing’ in Universal’s Dark Universe appeared first on /Film.

Alex Kurtzman knows his way around a franchise. The writer-director-producer had a hand in creating million-dollar tentpoles out of Transformers and Star Trek, in addition to scripting the second installment in The Amazing Spider-Man series. With his latest, a reboot of The Mummy starring Tom Cruise, he hopes to not only resurrect the iconic bandaged baddie, but spawn an entire cinematic universe of Universal Monster movies, to be known as the Dark Universe.

"It's like childbirth," Kurtzman told Et of the anticipation he feels over fans finally being able to see his take on The Mummy (in theaters now). "The head is crowning, so you're just waiting for the whole world to see your child. It's exciting! It's been a long journey."

Review: 'The Mummy' Is a Thrilling Start to the Dark Universe's Monster Mash

Et: In terms of building this new cinematic universe, which came first: the idea of rebooting The Mummy or this...

Universal has some very ambitious plans for their monster movies. That was made pretty clear the other week when they finally made the whole thing official by announcing the Dark Universe. Set to be a shared cinematic universe not too different from what we’ve seen with Marvel and DC – except that it involves monsters instead of superheroes – it all kicks off with The Mummy this month and will also include projects like The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein, among many, many others.

And that’s just the start. If this thing’s successful and the films end up performing well at the box office, you can also expect to see characters like the Wolf Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and Van Helsing get their own movies, too. It’s all very exciting, to be sure, and even though analysts are predicting a bit of an underwhelming...

Universal has some very ambitious plans for their monster movies. That was made pretty clear this week when they finally made the whole thing official by announcing the Dark Universe. Set to be a shared cinematic universe not too different from what we’ve seen with Marvel and DC – except that it involves monsters instead of superheroes – it kicks off with The Mummy next month and will also include projects like The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein, among many, many others.

And that’s just the start. If this thing’s successful and the films end up performing well at the box office, you can also expect to see characters like the Wolf Man, Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and Van Helsing get their own movies, too. It’s all very exciting, to be sure, and even though analysts are predicting a bit of an underwhelming box office opening for The Mummy,...

Universal, like most studios in Hollywood right now, is currently working on building out a cinematic universe. Theirs is quite different, though, as they are building one around their classic monsters, which will kick off this summer with Tom Cruise's new take on The Mummy. There is also a reboot of Universal Monsters' Frankenstein in the works and there have been reports that Javier Bardem is in talks to play the famous monster. Now, we have word directly from Bardem that those talks are happening and he is very interested in the part.

The actor is currently promoting Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, in which, he plays the villain. CinemaBlend caught up with Javier Bardem at the press junket for the movie and asked him about the Frankenstein rumors. Here's what he had to say about it.

Yeah, well, there are talks. And I would...

It’s no secret that Universal has been trying to get their ‘Monsters Universe’ off the ground for some time now. 2004’s Van Helsing was originally supposed to kickstart it and when those plans fell through, the studio tried again with 2014’s Dracula Untold. Unfortunately, that too failed to perform well enough to justify spawning a cinematic universe and now, Universal is giving it one more shot with The Mummy.

Set to hit theatres next month, the film will be followed by solo outings for characters like Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Invisible Man, Wolf Man and more. The studio’s assembled quite the cast to help them bring all these projects to life, too, with the likes of Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Tom Cruise and more all on board. It’s an ambitious plan, to be sure, but it’s an exciting one as well, especially if it all works out.

Little by little, Syfy Wire has spent the past three weeks unraveling The Mummy, Alex Kurtzman and Universal’s effects-laden reimagining of the iconic movie monster.

We’ve had in-depth previews detailing the origin of Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) and entire featurettes dedicated to Tom Cruise and his death-defying stunt work, but today, the pendulum has shifted toward Dr. Jekyll (Russell Crowe), who teeters on the verge of unveiling his true form to Cruise’s unsuspecting military man, Nick Morton.

Housed up deep within the bowels of London’s Natural History Museum, Dr. Jekyll is the driving force behind Prodigium, an organization that specializes in the supernatural. By tapping into the museum’s pool of resources, Crowe’s shady operative is able to further his research on ancient deities and mystical creatures – keep your peepers peeled for a shot of Dracula’s skull – but it isn’t long before Dr.

Cast your mind back to the moment when Universal pumped out the positively astonishing first trailer for The Mummy – astonishing for how it focused solely on the nail-biting plane crash, not the questionable Adr – and you’ll likely remember the eerie shot of Tom Cruise waking up in the morgue.

But this traumatic event proves to be much more than your average brush with death; Cruise, who is on board to headline Alex Kurtzman’s reboot as former military man Nick Morton, is now inexplicably linked to Princess Ahmanet, Sofia Boutella’s unruly deity otherwise known as The Mummy. So far, any additional story details are being kept stowed away in the dark crypts of the Prodigium, but one would assume Boutella’s all-powerful antagonist utilizes Nick Morton as some form of puppet to help her unleash her wrath.

Robbed of the chance to rule ancient Egypt, Princess Ahmanet’s...

The Mummy is going to be the first piece in a very large, important puzzle for Universal. The studio is planning on creating an entire cinematic universe that will center on their classic movie monsters, so this action thriller has to work. A featurette has hit the web, showcasing some new footage from The Mummy and giving us a whole lot of Sofia Boutella's twisted take on the iconic monster. We also get a brief teaser trailer, showcasing more never-before-seen footage.

The first video comes courtesy of SyFy Wire and showcases a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes footage from The Mummy. There are also interviews with people who worked on the movie, including director Alex Kurtzman and Tom Cruise, who is playing the lead character, alongside Sofia Boutella as the titular monster. The trailers have done a good job letting us know what The Mummy is going to look and feel like,...

Nick Morton, meet Princess Ahmanet.

Two months out from release, Entertainment Weekly has summoned an all-new action shot for The Mummy, Universal and Alex Kurtzman’s bold reboot that places Tom Cruise in the grubby boots of Morton. A former military man with experience in the Middle East, by the time Kurtzman’s budding franchise-starter opens in June, Nick Morton will have uncovered an ancient, all-consuming evil the likes of which he’s never seen. Down below, you’ll get a sneak peek at that encounter between god and man, as Tom Cruise gingerly approaches the Mummy, who is securely (?) bound by all sorts of restraints.

As writer-director Alex Kurtzman tells EW, Sofia Boutella’s deity is “a woman who wasn’t content to be put in her place and wanted something more.” You’ll get a sense of that history via The Mummy‘s new international trailer (see above...

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Princess Ahmanet unleashes a pent-up rage two millennia in the making in the latest, downright spooky TV spot for The Mummy, Universal and Alex Kurtzman’s budding reboot that’s poised to get the ball rolling on the studio’s wildly ambitious Monsters Universe in two months’ time.

Pegged for theatrical release on June 9th, this particular incarnation of The Mummy places Kingsman: The Secret Service breakout Sofia Boutella in the title role. Robbed of her rightful destiny eons ago, Ahmanet was thought to be safely entombed under the sands of the Middle East – that is, until Tom Cruise’s military man Nick Morton uncovers her resting place years after the fact. It’s a historic discovery for all of humanity, but as Cruise, Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis), Sgt. Vail (Jake Johnson), Dr. Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe...

Hot off the success of the live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, which is now sitting at $1 billion at the worldwide box office, Bill Condon is in talks with Universal to direct their remake of The Bride of Frankenstein. The project is part of the studio’s new cinematic universe, one which features all of their classic monsters and kicks off shortly with the release of The Mummy. From there, we’ll also be getting The Invisible Man, Van Helsing, Creature from the Black Lagoon and many more.

On board to produce The Bride of Frankenstein are Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan, with a script from David Koepp that apparently has “kind of a feminist bent to the new story.” The original, which released in 1935 and was directed by James Whale, is a classic of the genre and starred Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester. There’s no word yet on casting for the remake,...

As you know, Universal Pictures is planning a whole new cinematic universe based on their classic monster movie franchise. This whole thing all starts with Tom Cruise's The Mummy and it will be followed by Johnny Depp's The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man, The Creature From the Black Lagoon, Javier Bardem's Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Van Helsing, and more.

I figured that the whole plan was to interconnect these films much in the same way that Marvel is connecting all of their characters in their superhero films, but that's not the case. Universal has other plans for their monster universe and during an interview with Collider, producer Chris Morgan talks about this new slate of films and explains why he relates to these monster characters more than superheroes, saying:

"I think why people will love these monster films is the they are an homage to the originals,...

As The Mummy ramps up for release in June, attention is being focused on what will come next in the Universal Monsters Universe (that's like... two universes!) that will include Bride of Frankenstein, Van Helsing, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Wolfman, and Invisible Man. Traditionally, past reboots/remakes of these franchises have been period pieces, but The Mummy is shaking things up with a modern setting and about as A-List an actor as you can get in Tom Cruise.

The question arises then, will the entire Universal Monster Universe be set in the modern day? Or will some of the more "everlasting" -- undead, immortal, etc -- characters be introduced in settings truer to the original films and then brought together in present day to join the Mummy in their Avengers-type crossover film?

Collider had a discussion with Chris Morgan, one of the writers tapped to shepherd the franchise, about...

Cinematic universes are the big thing in Hollywood now. No longer is a standalone franchise good enough. The holy grail is to be able to connect several franchises and have them crossover with one another, which is a concept that really started with the McU. There are a lot of these movie universes in development, but Universal may have one of the most sensical and intriguing ones with their shared Universal Monsters. We know that The Mummy will kick this off over the summer, but there are still a lot of questions. Lucky for us, writer Chris Morgan has offered a pretty significant update on where they are at with it.

Chris Morgan, who is one of the architects of the classic Universal monsters shared movie universe, along with Alex Kurtzman, recently spoke with Collider about it. He revealed that all of these movies are designed as standalone movies and franchises primarily,...

If you visit Lrm frequently, you know that discussions regarding shared universes are aplenty here. Hell, they’re aplenty in today’s day and age of film discussion. Ever since Marvel Studios changed the world with The Avengers back in 2012, every other studio has seemed set on making their own world, whether audiences love it or not. It’s happening with the DC Extended Universe, the Godzilla-Kong MonsterVerse, the eventual Call of Duty universe, and finally, the Universal Monsters Universe (that name is hopefully a work in progress).

As the momentum on some of these franchises start to kick in, audiences are becoming more cynical, and ironically enough, they’re getting hungry for more films to stand alone. As time has gone on, some have been increasingly frustrated by the tendency for each new movie to be a 120-minute trailer for the next film, whatever that may be. In the...

Universal’s shared Monsters Universe is still in a state of infancy, but that hasn’t stopped screenwriters/architects Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan from outlining their ambitious plans to bring some of cinema’s most iconic creatures together under the one narrative umbrella. The former will get the ball rolling later this year with the release of The Mummy, a franchise-starter that finds Tom Cruise and Annabelle Wallis going up against Sofia Boutella’s unruly deity.

Perhaps one of the more important story elements set to bind each film together, though, is the Prodigium, an ancient organization that specializes in the supernatural. It’s the gateway into Universal’s Monsters Universe, essentially, and when Collider caught up with Chris Morgan, the scribe touched base on how each picture is being treated as a standalone entity that will share some DNA with its next of kin.

One recurring feature is,...

Following the preview released earlier this month, which showcases Tom Cruise's zero gravity stunt, Universal Pictures has released the second full trailer and poster for The Mummy, which is slated for release on June 9. This video offers new footage of Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella, who makes history by becoming the first ever female to play The Mummy in franchise history. This movie also marks the beginning of Universal's monster reboot universe, which will feature a number of the studio's iconic creatures and beloved horror characters inhabiting the same universe in present day..

Tom Cruise headlines a spectacular, all-new cinematic version of the legend that has fascinated cultures all over the world since the dawn of civilization: Mummy. Thought safely entombed in a tomb deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient queen (Sofia Boutella) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with...

Screenwriter Will Beall recently spent time writing adventures set in the high seas for James Wan's new Aquaman movie, and now he's heading back underwater, as THR reports that Universal Pictures has tapped the writer to pen the new Creature from the Black Lagoon movie for their shared cinematic universe of Universal Monsters.

Creature from the Black Lagoon will be produced by Chris Morgan and Alex Kurtzman, who are overseeing the new version of the shared Universal Monsters world, which will kick off with the theatrical release of The Mummy (directed by Kurtzman and starring Tom Cruise) on June 9th.

In addition to Aquaman, Beall wrote the big screen adaptation of Paul Lieberman's novel Gangster Squad, developed the Training Day TV series, and has also been working on The Legend of Conan film (produced by Morgan) for Warner Bros.

Other new Universal Monsters movies that are in the...

Aquaman screenwriter Will Beall is diving into new waters, as he is set to pen The Creature From the Black Lagoon for Universal.

The project is part of the studio's growing shared monsters universe, which will launch June 9 with The Mummy starring Tom Cruise.

Chris Morgan and Alex Kurtzman are overseeing the monsters universe, which is based on Universal's vault of classic movies. Other potential films will revolve around the characters of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Invisible Man, the Bride of Frankenstein and vampire hunter Van Helsing.

Beall wrote the screenplay for Warner Bros.’ DC project Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa,...

During the Universal Pictures presentation at CinemaCon we got to see some more new footage from Tom Cruise's The Mummy. I wasn't impressed, but Drew was. You can watch us debate it in our reaction video above.

Thought safely entombed in a tomb deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient princess (Sofia Boutella of Kingsman: The Secret Service and Star Trek Beyond) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.

The movie was directed by Alex Kurtzman and also stars Annabelle Wallis (Peaky Blinders), Jake Johnson (Jurassic World), Courtney B. Vance (American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson), and Russell Crowe (Gladiator).

The Mummy will be released on June 9th, 2017, and it will be followed by modern day reboots of The Wolfman, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, and Van Helsing,...

There’s a party line when it comes to Universal’s upcoming monster movies: Don’t worry, guys, they’ll be super scary. Doctor Strange and Passengers writer Jon Spaihts claimed that The Mummy will be “the first Mummy film in the entire Universal canon with the true power to terrify.” Now Eric Heisserer, Spaihts’ co-writer on the Van Helsing reboot, is selling something similar. Speaking with Collider, Heisserer explained that he aimed to give this new take on the story of the dude who goes to battle with vampires and other creatures plenty of frights. “I can say that my intent stepping in was to make it as scary as possible, partly because I know how to do that, and also because when you’re the only human surrounded by a bunch of supernatural creatures, that’s gotta be absolutely unnerving,” he said.

Heisserer’s confidence in his horror...

Our buddies over at Collider recently caught up with Oscar nominated writer Eric Heisserer (Arrival) to get the scoop on what’s in store for the reboot of Van Helsing he’s writing with Jon Spaihts. “Well I guess the biggest thing… Continue Reading →

The post Writer Eric Heisserer Talks Making Van Helsing Scary Again appeared first on Dread Central.

There are movies that take a lot longer than normal to get made, which is certainly the case with the sci-fi drama Passengers, which screenwriter Jon Spaihts got a lot of attention for when the screenplay appeared in the annual Black List of notable screenplays. He then spent years developing the project with Keanu Reeves to make the movie with different directors and actresses.

Just when some thought the movie would never get made, along came Oscar nominated director Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game), who managed to get actors Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence to commit to making the outer space drama that deals with some difficult subjects like loneliness and what you might do for companionship.

Pratt plays Jim Prescott, a man on a 120-year journey to colonize a new planet on the starship Avalon along with 5,000 other sleeping passengers when his hibernation pod opens up 90 years to early.

The latest cinematic shared universe, which will consist of the classic monsters of film from Universal Studios movie library, is moving ahead. They’ve gathered a team of writers—some veteran, some fairly new—to act as the Think Tank who will oversee the rebooted Cinematic Monster Universe.

Writers Assemble! Chris Morgan (The Fast & the Furious, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, Furious 7), Alex Kurtzman (The Legend of Zorro, Mission Impossible 3, Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek, Cowboys & Aliens, Amazing Spider-Man) Noah Hawley (Producer/Writer of the television series’ Bones and Fargo), Aaron Guzikowski (Prisoners) and Ed Solomon (Charlie’s Angels, Men in Black and Now You See Me) have joined their creative forces to act as a writer’s collective for Universal Studios' cinematic monster universe.

This group, who will be known as the "Monster Men" will cooperate in each other's movies. They will offer suggestions...

Earlier tonight, Universal dropped the first trailer for their upcoming reboot of The Mummy. Terrifying and action packed in equal measure, it promised a more mature and refreshing take on the franchise, one that looks to be light years away from the Brendan Fraser-led movies that we saw over a decade ago. More importantly, however, it’s shaping up to be a promising start for the studio’s new cinematic universe.

We say “start” because despite 2014’s Dracula Untold, it’s actually The Mummy that will kick things off. The former film was originally supposed to be the beginning of this new monsters universe, but given the poor reception it received upon hitting theatres, the studio hit the reset button and has now wiped it from canon.

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That’s according to Alex Kurtzman, who’s heading up all...

Tom Cruise is taking the reins as lead of Universal’s “The Mummy” reboot. The first official trailer was released this Sunday, and introduced viewers to a new world full of gods and monsters.

A previous 15-second teaser, shared days before the full trailer showed quick cuts of a mummy being removed from an underground crypt, unleashing a multi-irised female monster. The trailer features the same scenes with added action sequences and more of Cruise’s wild stunts.

Read More: ‘The Mummy’ Photos: Sofia Boutella as the Sexualized Monster in Universal’s Tom Cruise–Starring Reboot

Set in the present day, “The Mummy” is directed by Alex Kurtzman and written by Christopher McQuarrie and Jon Spaihts. The action film will center around an ancient princess who is awakened from her crypt beneath the desert, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia, and terrors that defy human comprehension. Russell Crowe, Courtney B. Vance,...

Universal Pictures has released the first poster and teaser trailer for their upcoming reboot of The Mummy, which is the first film in their slate of new movies based on their classic monster series. The brief amount of footage they've released in the teaser is interesting. It definitely doesn't have the magic and eeriness that the original movie had. This version has more of an action-adventure kind of feel to it. This could end up being a fun movie, but we'll just have to wait and see more footage. Let us know what you think after you watch the teaser.

Tom Cruise headlines a spectacular, all-new cinematic version of the legend that has fascinated cultures all over the world since the dawn of civilization: The Mummy. 

Thought safely entombed in a tomb deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient princess (Sofia Boutella of Kingsman: The Secret Service and Star Trek...

Overnight success takes years. Just ask Jon Spaihts. The screenwriter has two of the most anticipated genre films of 2016 hitting theaters over the next few months. Passengers starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt and Doctor Strange, Marvel’s first real foray into expanding beyond the boring mortal plane. Coming down the pipe, the writer also has his hand in Universal’s reboot of The Mummy, a take on Van Helsing, and is working with Guillermo del Toro on Pacific Rim: Maelstrom. All of which would be exciting enough on its own, but Spaihts is also a huge nerd. One of us. One of us. With Doctor Strange out now, HitFix Harpy spoke with Spaihts by phone to get an idea of how massive a shift Marvel is making by cracking open the door to the multiverse. Image Credit: Marvel Entertainment Hitfix Harpy: Way back in June of 2014, you announced your...

The Girl in the Spider's Web: Fede Alvarez (Don't Breathe, above) is under consideration to direct The Girl in the Spider's Web, a sequel to mystery thriller The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It's based on a novel by David Lagercrantz, who continued the series after original trilogy author Stieg Larsson died in 2004. In the book, Lisbeth Salander once again teams up with journalist Mikael Blomkvist to battle "spies, cyber criminals and government operatives." [Variety]   Van Helsing: Jon Spaihts wrote next year's The Mummy (behind the scenes, above), which will kick off a new series of movies from Universal featuring rebooted versions of the studio's classic monsters. Spaihts, now writing the script for Van Helsing with Eric Heisserer...

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We've seen some gnarly set-pics from the upcoming Mummy reboot starring Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella and while information on the upcoming flick is scarce, writer Jon Spaihts was kind enough to give JoBlo.com a little insight into Universal's Monster Cinematic Universe. Our own Walkuski shared a few words with the writer regarding The Mummy, Van Helsing, and the universe it resides in. Check... Read More...

Universal's own McU — the Monster Cinematic Universe — is in full swing with Tom Cruise's The Mummy, and the studio is going after top-tier talent to fill out the rest of the movies, approaching people like Russell Crowe, Johnny Depp, and Javier Bardem over the past few months. They're developing new takes on The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, and more, but one of the films we haven't heard much about is their new imagining of Van Helsing.

Hitfix caught up with Eric Heisserer, who is co-writing the new Van Helsing with Prometheus and Doctor Strange writer Jon Spaihts, and the scribe revealed a couple of interesting tidbits about their approach to the character:

“I can only say that early on, our inspiration for his behavior and his mannerisms was all in Mad Max."

The famed vampire hunter has historically been portrayed as much more...

Last week, fans got their first look at The Mummy star Sofia Boutella with set photos as production continues. Filming has been under way since late April, when we got our first look at Tom Cruise and his co-star Annabelle Wallis. As production continues, we have even more photos of Tom Cruise and Annabelle Wallis who are seen springing into action.

The photos surfaced on various Twitter pages, featuring Tom Cruise and Annabelle Wallis going on the run from unseen enemies. There is very little we know about the scene itself, except both actors are seen running from someone, or something. It's certainly possible that both stars were running from Sofia Boutella's title character, but we don't know for certain.

Thought safely entombed in a crypt deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient queen (Sofia Boutella}) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her, is awakened in our current day,...

Like just about every other franchise, “The Mummy” is in the process of being rebooted as part of a shared universe. Tom Cruise is headlining the new series, which differs from the Brendan Fraser–led trilogy in that it’s set in the present day, with Sofia Boutella as the eponymous monster. Set photos from the film’s shoot in London reveal an early look at her version of the character.

Read More: ‘Kingsman’ Star Sofia Boutella Will Play Title Monster In ‘The Mummy,’ Tom Cruise In Negotiations To Join

Boutella, who previously appeared in “Kingsman: The Secret Service” and will next be seen in this month’s “Star Trek Beyond,” is preceded by the likes of Boris Karloff, Tom Tyler and Arnold Vosloo. Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, Marwan Kenzari, Courtney B. Vance and Russell Crowe all star in the film as well, with Crowe as Dr. Jekyll — part of...

Some new photos from the set of Universal Picture's reboot of The Mummy have surfaced, and these give us our first look at Sofia Boutella in the role of the classic monster. She has some mummy type elements in her design with the bandages and stuff, but it's not the full-on hardcore terrifying mummy look from the original film. It doesn't look bad, it's just different, and who knows what kind of CGI elements they will add to the character during post-production. The completed version of the character is sure to look better than what we're seeing here, but we'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, check out the photos below and let us know what you think of the look.

Tom Cruise stars in the movie, which is being directed by Alex Kurtzman. I'm really hoping that this new wave of classic monster movie reboots from Universal turn out to be decent.

Production has been under way on Universal's The Mummy since April, but there is still much we don't know about this upcoming adventure. Tom Cruise is set to star, although little is known about his character, with Kingsman: The Secret Service breakout star Sofia Boutella playing the title character, marking the first time in franchise history a female has played The Mummy. Today we have the first photos from the set with Sofia Boutella in action.

The photos surfaced on various Twitter pages, giving us our first look at Sofia Boutella's costume as the title character, which come just a few months after our first look at Tom Cruise on the set. Unfortunately, we don't get a glimpse at any of the actress' co-stars, and it isn't exactly clear what is happening in this scene. One thing is for certain, though, her costume is certainly unique.

Thought safely entombed...

Last week, we reported that Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe was in early talks to play a "Jekyll-like role in Universal Pictures' The Mummy reboot. No details were given for this character, but we know that the story is set in modern day, and it will be the first full adventure in the studio's massive monster reboot franchise, set to hit theaters on July 9, 2017. While doing press for his new movie The Nice Guys, Russell Crowe confirmed that he is actually playing Dr. Jekyll.

Production started last month on Universal Pictures' Mummy reboot, with Tom Cruise is reportedly playing a special forces soldier who teams with an archaeologist (Annabelle Wallis), although those character details have yet to be confirmed. Sofia Boutella, who had a breakthrough role in last year's Kingsman: The Secret Service, is playing the Mummy, marking the first time in franchise history that a female has played the title character.

While Dracula Untold is the official first movie in Universal's Monsters Universe, The Mummy is fully opening up this world that will include a number of iconic crossovers with some of the studio's most infamous ghouls. The remake is set to hit theaters in 2017. It stars Tom Cruise in the lead role, with Sofia Boutella playing the title monster, the first time in series history that this mummified zombie has ever been played by a woman. Universal Pictures has released the official synopsis, which gives us an idea of what we can expect.

"Thought safely entombed in a crypt deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient queen (Sofia Boutella of Kingsman: The Secret Service and Star Trek Beyond) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her, is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension. From the sweeping sands of the...

Universal Pictures has released an official synopsis for Tom Cruise's upcoming reboot of The Mummy, which is currently in production in London. The Mummy is the first film in a new Monster cinematic universe that the studio is building and here's that synopsis:

Thought safely entombed in a crypt deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient queen (Sofia Boutella of Kingsman: The Secret Service and Star Trek Beyond) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her, is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.From the sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, The Mummy brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.

I'm such a huge fan of these classic monsters, and I'm kind of nervous...

Last month, production got under way on Universal Pictures' Mummy Reboot, with Tom Cruise leading the cast. All we know about the story thus far is that it is set in modern day, and it will be the first full adventure in the studio's massive monster reboot franchise, set to hit theaters on July 9, 2017. Today we have word that another huge star is being eyed to join the cast, Oscar winner Russell Crowe.

Deadline brings word that the actor is in early talks to star in a "Jekyll-like role" opposite Tom Cruise, although no further details were given for this new character. Tom Cruise is reportedly playing a special forces soldier who teams with an archaeologist (Annabelle Wallis), although those character details have yet to be confirmed. Sofia Boutella, who had a breakthrough role in last year's Kingsman: The Secret Service, is playing the Mummy, marking the first time...

Soon to hit the grimy streets of ’70s La for Shane Black noir The Nice Guys, Russell Crowe has potentially teed up his next project: Universal’s starry reboot of The Mummy.

Reports from both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter caution that negotiations are at a very early stage – Tom Hardy and Javier Bardem had allegedly circled the part beforehand – though if said deal were to go through, Crowe would assume a Dr. Jekyll-esque role that could potentially seed a spinoff movie of its own, as Universal’s interconnected Monsters universe begins to take shape.

Currently filming in London – as recent set photos confirmed – Tom Cruise and Annabelle Wallis will topline Alex Kurtzman’s long-in-development reboot, with the former on board as a Navy seal. Expected to shift production to the Middle East soon, Universal’s overhauled version of The Mummy will see our adventurers go up against Sofia Boutella’s (Kingsman: The Secret Service,...

All eyes in Universal‘s Monster Universe – both human and otherwise – may currently be trained on the Tom Cruise-fronted reboot of The Mummy, itself due to arrive in 2017, but the studio recently nailed down release plans for the third creature feature in its shared universe for 2019.

Exactly who or what said feature will revolve around is still up for question, but we know now that it’ll scurry into theaters in time for February 15, 2019. Pumping out one film per year, that places the as-yet-untitled genre flick behind both The Mummy – slated for June 9, 2017 – and the second of Universal’s reworked horror icons, which was recently pegged to arrive on April 13, 2018.

Currently, it’s understood the studio’s Monster Universe will soon house solo movies for such heinous creations as Dracula, Van Helsing, Bride of Frankenstein, the Wolfman and the Invisible Man, but aside from Alex Kurtzman’s overhaul of The Mummy,...