Universal adds ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ and ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ to its cinematic universe

I don’t even know why I’m covering this. I’m, I think, I’m oddly intrigued by this upcoming disaster for the studio.

/Film:

This Friday, Universal’s The Mummy will launch the studio’s Dark Universe, a shared cinematic universe of classic movie monsters. And while at least four more monster movie reboots have already been planned, Universal has announced two new monsters to be added to the roster — as well as one familiar name that will be coming back.

Alex Kurtzman‘s The Mummy is the first in the Dark Universe, which takes the studio’s classic movie monsters that were popularized in black and white films and reintroduces them for a new generation. From there, the shared universe will only expand, with Bill Condon’s Bride of Frankenstein, starring Javier Bardem as Frankenstein’s monster slated to be released next. Some time after that, Johnny Depp will debut as the Invisible Man. The studio also has reboots planned for Van Helsing, The Wolf Man, and Creature from the Black Lagoon.

In the press tour for The Mummy, Kurtzman revealed to Fandom Universal’s plans for expanding the Dark Universe with two more monster films – The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera:

“We know we’re going to do Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Phantom of the Opera, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Invisible Man.”

Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback of Notre Dame, now known to many as a stage musical and an animated Disney film, were first two “monster” movies the studio produced in the early ’20s, both starring legendary silent film actor Lon Chaney.