Universal Pictures on Monday officially unveiled the Dark Universe with a legacy trailer and details about what movies will be made within the universe.
The upcoming Tom Cruise flick, The Mummy, will kick things off, followed by Bride of Frankenstein on February 14, 2019. The lead for the movie hasn’t been cast yet, but Beauty and the Beast director Bill Condon will direct.
A few of the other characters Universal plans to highlight include Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Wolfman, The Phantom of the Opera and The Creature from the Black Lagoon.
The Dark Universe has already nabbed a few big-name actors to lead the movie line-up. Johnny Depp has been cast as The Invisible Man and Javier Bardem is onboard to play Frankestein. Russell Crowe will portray Henry Jekyll (of Jekyll and Hyde fame) while Sofia Boutella is the Mummy.
No word on whether Crowe, Boutella and Tom Cruise, all of whom star in The Mummy, will return to reprise their roles in future Dark Universe movies. But they are featured prominently in the official photo of the current cast that includes Depp, Bardem, Cruise, Crowe and Boutella, so their return is quite likely.
Movies within the Dark Universe will feature musical scores composed by Danny Elfman and Universal has set a Dark Universe logo that will be featured in each movie within it.
A new detail that may connect the movies involves Russell Crowe’s character, Henry Jekyll. The Prodigium organization, led by Jekyll, is on a “mission is to track, study and—when necessary—destroy evil embodied in the form of monsters in our world.” This may explain his role in The Mummy where he is seen explaining the Mummy’s origin to Tom Cruise during some of the trailers. It may also connect other movies in the Dark Universe.
This budding universe is looking good
The universes we’ve seen so far have mostly involved superheroes. Universal’s Dark Universe takes a new direction with horror icons. With notable actors like Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp onboard and the current look of The Mummy, it looks like Dark Universe will rely heavily on stars, action, big spectacles and a dose of horror.
