Posted by Bob Muir on Nov 13, 2014 in Cinema, Horror
Universal is taking a page from the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the Universal Monster Universe, a reboot of their classic horror films all set in the same universe. Dracula Untold is sort of the unofficial start, with The Mummy reboot to be the actual start in 2016. But one and a half films does not a universe make. Are they making more? If you read the headline, then yes, Universal wants a new Wolf Man movie, perhaps to make people forget about The Wolfman from 2010. And they have already arranged for Prisoners writer Aaron Guzikowski to write it, so things are moving. Hopefully they can make future films better than Dracula Untold, though — the reason the MCU took off was because the movies were good or great, in addition to being part of a bigger story. Read more…
I still haven’t had a chance to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Florida, and now they’re adding even more to it! While the park area launched with Hogsmeade in Universal’s Islands of Adventure, but with the new Diagon Alley area in the main park, there comes a new ride. Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts is based on the sequence from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. From the looks of it, guests can go into Gringotts Bank, open an account, go down into the vaults, and get caught up in the fight from the movie. I can’t tell how much of it will be built and how much of it will be on screens (like some other Universal rides), but hey, 4 minutes inside of a dark ride is pretty good these days. It seems short, but it’s much better than waiting an hour to get on for, say, 2 minutes of ride. Read more…
On July 19, Universal will release their movie adaptation of the comic R.I.P.D., a story about an afterlife police force. Ryan Reynolds plays a man who has just died and is assigned to the Rest In Peace Department, an organization that makes sure dead things stay dead and don’t interfere with the living world. To this end, he’s teamed up with Jeff Bridges to help him learn the ropes. Read more…
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen any news surrounding a proposed fourth installment of Jurassic Park, so I thought it might be worth mentioning that the project might still be in the works. Word has itRise of the Planet of the Apes writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver have signed on to pen the sequel for Universal, and while I’m not sure how I felt about Rise of the Planet of the Apes, anything they write will probably be better than the mess that was Jurassic Park 3. However, seeing as they successfully revived the Planet of the Apes franchise — at least, enough to sell tickets — we should probably have a little faith that they can deliver a script worth filming. Of course, the project could still fall flat down the line. Sadly, it might be the closest thing anyone will get to a second season of Terranova, so keep your fingers crossed.
I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with Bakugan. In fact, I wasn’t really aware of it myself until I asked my wife, who happens to work in retail, what had been selling really well. I half-expected her to say Pokemon but instead, she mentioned Bakugan Battle Brawlers. The title alone was very off-putting for me — I’m not fond of alliteration, you see — but I figured I should try to learn something about it, seeing as I moonlight as an anime journalist. Read more…
This featurette is a behind the scenes look at how Universal is trying to go back to their great horror films from the past to bring revive The Wolfman. While it looks like they have some darn good actors and some great special effects, I’m still not sure modern audiences can still be scared by these classic creatures. We’ll have to wait and see in 2010 to see if Universal can pull this off…
