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, we’re hopeful that Universal can finally get this project off the ground, especially since they failed to do so a few years ago with Dracula Untold.
As you no doubt know by now, Tom Cruise is attached to lead the reboot as former military man Nick Morton, who journeys to the Middle East in search of a long-lost crypt. Morton gets more than he bargained for though – much more, in fact – after freeing Sofia Boutella’s unruly deity and subsequently bringing about the end of days. Flanked by Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis) and Sgt. Vail (Jake Johnson), the fate of London and potentially the entire world rests on Cruise’s shoulders – not for the first time, of course.
Now, in order to heighten anticipation for The Mummy, Empire has debuted a new photo from the film – seen above – that puts the titular monster front and centre. Speaking to the outlet about what audiences can expect from Boutella’s mummy, director Alex Kurtzman said that it was important for him to make her relatable and have us sympathize with the character.
“The thing I’ve been focused on more than anything is that she has a really good reason to be where she’s at. If we can relate to her, and experience that weird, confusing universal feeling you get of loving and caring about the monster, then hopefully I will have succeeded.”
Princess Ahmanet will unleash her wrath – a pent-up wrath spanning millennia – upon the unsuspecting masses when The Mummy crashes into theaters on June 9th. Assuming all goes according to plan, and those box office numbers are strong enough, you can expect Universal to push full steam ahead with their plans for Dark Universe. Until then, have a look at the new photo above and let us know what you think.