Universal announced in May that its project to revive the studio’s monster classics would be known as Dark Universe. It looks like that Universe is already beginning to implode, as the studio have opted to remove Bride of Frankenstein from its release schedule.
The feature was originally supposed to premiere February 14, 2019 (how romantic), and without even a pushback, the resurrection of the film really is up in the air.
Bill Condon is still attached to direct the remake of the 1935 classic, as is Javier Bardem for the role of Frankenstein’s monster. The part of the Bride has never been officially confirmed, through Angelina Jolie has been rumoured. David Koepp (Mission: Impossible) is writing the script, said to turn “everything on its head” from James Whale‘s original.
Universal commented,
“After thoughtful consideration, Universal Pictures and director Bill Condon have decided to postpone Bride of Frankenstein. None of us want to move too quickly to meet a release date when we know this special movie needs more time to come together. Bill is a director whose enormous talent has been proven time and again, and we all look forward to continuing to work on this film together.”
If that’s at all true, its actually refreshing to see a studio choosing to produce a quality film rather than a mediocre one in quick time. Perhaps it is due to the failure of The Mummy that they have made the decision to devote more time to their Dark Universe.
Describing the prospective film, Condon says “This is Eve before Adam; the bride comes first. So in its own way — you know, we all know the Bride only exists for 10 minutes in the Whale movie. She’s there and the movie’s over. So I keep thinking [it’s], in a way, at least a tribute to what Whale might have done if he’d made a third Frankenstein movie and he’d done it in the 21st Century“.
Other projects in the Dark Universe include an Invisible Man movie, starring Johnny Depp, and a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde installment, starring Russell Crowe.
Hopefully the film will materialise eventually, though when exactly is a mystery.
#Peace.Love.BrideOfFrankenstein
