All of the other Universal Monsters get plenty of love. Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, even the Bride of Frankenstein has her own Halloween Horror Nights story. The Creature From The Black Lagoon hasn’t had a new movie in forever. That looks to change as Deadline is reporting thatUniversal has commissioned James Wan to direct a remake of the 1954 classic. This is the first project that Wan will direct under his company Electric Monster, after its merger with Blumhouse. Wan previously directed Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and is looking to get back to his horror roots.
James Wan will also produce Creature From The Black Lagoon, and his Atomic Monster partners Michael Clear and Judson Scott will serve as Executive Producers. If you’ve never seen the original Creature, it told the story of a prehistoric water-breathing humanoid monster and a group of scientists who want to study him. It came at the tail end of Universal’s dominance with their Monsters series. The story was surprisingly deep for 1954 with a tale of horror, romance, and even the emotional weight of a creature being the last of his kind.
Why Can’t Hollywood Get A Creature From The Black Lagoon Movie Made?
This isn’t the first time that Hollywood has tried to bring Gill-Man back from the depths. John Landis tried producing a film in the 1980s, John Carpenter tried getting it off the ground in the ’90s, and the original screenwriter, Arthur A. Ross’s son, Gary Ross wrote a script in the 2000s.
Hollywood’s most famous example of trying and failing was Universal’s Dark Universe in the 2010s. They tried emulating the old franchise style of the monsters from the 30s-50s and it imploded after one film, The Mummy. The new take is described as being a grounded, modernized retelling that will lean into visceral horror.
We’ll have to see how the new take on the Creature turns out. James Wan has plenty of experience with horrific sea creatures after his work on both the Aquaman films.
For more on Horror, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.
Source: Deadline
