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Bill Condon eyed to direct Universal's Bride of Frankenstein reboot

Not quite love at first sight. Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff in 1936's 'The Bride of Frankenstein' (credit: Universal)
Not quite love at first sight. Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff in 1936’s ‘The Bride of Frankenstein’ (credit: Universal)

Universal’s new monster movie universe may have just got a whole lot more interesting.

Beginning with this summer’s ‘The Mummy,’ the famed studio are set on launching a new Marvel-esque cinematic universe reviving the classic monster movies which made their name in the 1930s and 1940s, planning fresh takes on such titles as ‘The Invisible Man,’ ‘The Wolf Man’ and ‘The Creature from the Black Lagoon.’

One particularly hot title on the list is ‘The Bride of Frankenstein,’ widely regarded as the finest film Universal produced in their monster movie heyday – and now, Deadline report that the studio have Bill Condon in talks to direct the reboot.

There can be no question in anyone’s mind that the project is close to Condon’s heart, as he wrote and directed the acclaimed 1998 film ‘Gods and Monsters,’ a biopic of ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘The Bride of Frankenstein’ director James Whale. Ian McKellen played the role, for which he received an Oscar nomination. The film’s title comes from a line delivered by ‘The Bride of Frankenstein’ antagonist Dr Pretorious – “to a new world of gods and monsters” – which Russell Crowe’s Dr Jekyll also utters in the first trailer for ‘The Mummy.’

Director Bill Condon (credit: WENN)
Director Bill Condon (credit: WENN)

Condon’s varied directorial CV also includes horror sequel ‘Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh,’ ‘Kinsey,’ ‘Dreamgirls,’ ‘Twilight: Breaking Dawn’ and most recently Disney’s live-action ‘Beauty and the Beast.’

No casting for the film has been announced at present, although Javier Bardem has reportedly been in talks to play Frankenstein’s monster, and it was previously rumoured that Universal had pursued Angelina Jolie for the Bride. The studio are going for big name stars for the franchise, with Tom Cruise headlining ‘The Mummy,’ and Johnny Depp lined up to play ‘The Invisible Man.’

David Koepp (‘Jurassic Park’) has penned the screenplay for ‘The Bride of Frankenstein.’ No release date for the film has been announced, although Universal have two as-yet unrevealed monster movies lined up for release in April 2018 and February 2019.

The first entry in the Universal Monsters universe, ‘The Mummy,’ opens on 9 June.

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