Universal’s Dark Universe builds on all the classic monster movies, but 2017’s abysmal The Mummy reboot (not even Tom Cruise’s antics could save it) failed to live up to the franchise’s expectations and was panned by critics and audiences alike. But that hasn’t stopped Universal from trying again to revive old horror movies with a simpler, director-driven approach, and Creature from the Black Lagoon is the next in line for a modern makeover.
We’re still waiting to see how the upcoming Werewolf reboot will pan out, but 2020’s pre-COVID reboot of The Invisible Man was a compelling and profound update of the original horror concept, so there’s a certain appeal to this new strategy for indie horror that allows each filmmaker to reimagine the monsters we’ve known for decades.
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Released in 1954, The Creature from the Black Lagoon has been one of those traditional monster movies that has come up from time to time in the remake conversation, and now Deadline is reporting that horror veteran James Wan, who has also directed such blockbuster hits as Furious 7 and both Aquaman films, may be the first to venture into this dark territory.
The project is being developed by Atomic Monster and Universal Pictures, and aims to “retell the horror story with a modern twist while paying homage to the original classic.” If you didn’t know already, Atomic Monster and Blumhouse are two of the biggest mainstream “horror studios” in Hollywood right now, and they’ve teamed up with plans for other major reboots like a new Blair Witch movie (in addition to their usual slate of original projects).
This is a worthwhile endeavor for James Wan. The Aquaman movies (which were mostly shot underwater) already include plenty of horror elements, and he also managed to make a completely insane horror movie in between the DCEU movies, Malignant Terror, which shows that he has no intention of abandoning the horror element.
His take on The Creature from the Black Lagoon feels both fresh and classically inspired, and the premise alone, about a fish-like amphibious humanoid and the terror it causes, would be easy to pick up after the success of Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water (2017), especially if there’s a twisted romantic angle to this version.
