Fargo creator Noah Hawley has been assigned writing duties for a mystery Universal Monster movie that isn't The Mummy.
When it was announced this summer that Universal Pictures wanted to expand its monster movie universe, they weren’t kidding about moving things along quickly and (quietly).
As reported in an unrelated story by Deadline, rather off-handedly it has been revealed that Noah Hawley, executive producer and showrunner of FX’s anthological crime drama series Fargo, has been tapped to pen an unspecified Universal Monster movie.
For fans of the genre who have watched FX’s Fargo adaptation, this is only good news since Hawley has shown a terrific knack for taking pre-existing concepts and refiguring them into something terrifyingly specific and original. Just ask Billy Bob Thornton.
Of course, which Universal monster that Hawley has been tapped for is unknown. Currently, Prometheus scripter Jon Spaihts is drafting 2016’s The Mummy reboot, which Alex Kurtzman is directing (supposedly around the same time that he is to helm Sony Pictures’ Venom spin-off).
However, there is a cornucopia of other Universal monsters to choose from. Given that Luke Evans’ take on the immortal Dracula in next month’s Dracula Untold could theoretically be grandfathered into this shared universe, depending on the box office success of that film, we doubt that they are hiring Hawley to pen another version of the Count just yet. However, other contenders include Frankenstein’s monster (plus his bride), the Wolf Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, or possibly even the Phantom of the Opera.
Given the inherent folksiness in Hawley’s previous writing credits, we could foresee him having something to say about the original American Werewolf in London (or at least Wales), Larry Talbot. But pure speculation aside, it should be interesting to see where this goes from here.
Universal and Legendary Pictures revealed this summer the aim to reboot Universal’s iconic horror movie legacy that dates back to 1931 with the double whammy release of Tod Browning’s Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, and James Whale’s Frankenstein, starring g Boris Karloff. This universe (arguably) lasted until the 1954 production of The Creature of the Black Lagoon, but certainly lumbered on untilHouse of Dracula (1945), the third consecutive monster mash movie to feature Frankenstein’s monster, the Wolf Man, and/or Dracula in the same picture. It happened one more time as well in 1946’s spoof, Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
A special thanks also to ComingSoon for bringing this story to our attention!
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