Universal’s Dark Universe, to be based on all if its classic monster properties, was a massive misfire after 2017’s dreadful reboot of The Mummy (which even Tom Cruise’s antics couldn’t save) fell short of franchise-building expectations and got panned by critics and audiences alike. That didn’t stop Universal from trying again with a simpler, director-driven approach to reviving old horror properties, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon is next in line to be modernised.
We’re still waiting to see how the upcoming Wolf Man reboot pans out, but 2020’s pre-Covid Invisible Man reboot was a compelling and meaningful update of the original horror concept, so there’s some juice to this renewed strategy of standalone horror flicks which simply let each filmmaker reimagine monsters we’ve known for decades.
1954’s Creature from the Black Lagoon continues to be one of those traditional monster movies that pop up every now and then in remake conversations, and now Deadline is reporting that horror veteran James Wan, who’s also tackled huge blockbusters like Furious 7 and the two Aquaman movies, might be the filmmaker diving head first into those dark waters.
