Monster Movie Madness – return of the Reboots!

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Credit: Universal

ITM has already reported on the remake of the classic silent film Nosferatu, but that’s only the topsoil in the cemetery. It seems movie land’s monstrous momentum of ravenous reboots is alive and well. Several remakes are either currently filming or in pre-production…

Puppet Master
Cult classic Puppet Master is up for a new look (according to a reveal in Hollywood Reporter). The announcement came from executive producers Dallas Sonnier and Jack Heller at Fangoria’s Texas Frightmare Weekend. Lorenzo di Bonaventure (Transformers, G.I. Joe) and Mark Vahradian will be producing and promises to be true to the original film’s dark comedy and creative kills by the murderous marionettes.

The Craft movie poster

The Craft
Not exactly a remake, according to I-Horror, The Craft reboot is slated to be a sequel (set 20 years later as a new group of gals discover magic).

According an interview given to Hitfix, Douglas Wick (producer) described the new version’s story line.

“Here are some young women who once again discover the power of magic, and we explore their emotional lives, their wants, their fears, their longings, as they become empowered,” Wick revealed. “So you know, the same way you use a war movie to explore the psyche of men, you get to create a heightened world to explore the psyche of these women. And so that seemed like an opportunity that was ripe and a way to make a movie that would be very much about now. And of course, part of that was just finding a talent that felt like enough of a real talent that you’d really be interested in her interpretation of this kind of story now, and of course Leigh is exactly that.”

Interview with the Vampire
Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire turns 40 this year and is also getting the reboot treatment with Universal and Imagine Entertainment taking the lid of this coffin. Jared Leto has apparently already been cast to play Lestat. At least that’s what several horror and entertainment sites are reporting after script writer Josh Boone posted an image of Leto looking like Lestat on Twitter.

Universal is also vigorously viewing the remake renaissance as a way to breathe new life into their monster war chest with an overhaul to their entire line of classic horror films. Dracula Untold was the first in this series of seeing things anew (see our review here). Their Universal Monsters Shared Universe effort holds promise, but remains to be seen how these re-imagined visions will stand up to the original classics.

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The Mummy
Universal seems to be playing their hand with an interesting twist for this reboot – for the first time in the history of this Egyptian monster story – the mummy will be a female. Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Star Trek 3) has wrapped up the role. Having already cast Cruise as an ex-special forces soldier, Universal is now looking at Russell Crowe to play Dr. Jekyll.  Crowe is next on a long list of actors already considered for the role, according to Comicbook.comThe Mummy is due to reanimate in theaters on June 9th next year. (source Movieweb)

The Invisible Man
According to Movieweb and Deadline, the highly visible Johnny Depp has allegedly been cast in the lead role.

Creature from the Black Lagoon
Also, according to Movieweb, Universal Pictures is allegedly seeking Scarlett Johansson to star. Aside from tasking David Kajganich for a script, not much else has been released since the studio first announced the reboot in 2012.

The Wolfman
No cast information yet, but the film is not due until the full moon at the end of March 2018 (the 30th to be exact). The date was announced in Fangoria magazine, which also teased that the hair-raising remake will be set in modern times (as many of the others are). The script, by Aaron Guzikowski (Prisoners, Friday the 13th), is already completed.

Other features in the series are in various stages of pre-production.  Jon Spaihts is reported to be in the process of scripting Van HelsingBride of Frankenstein’s reboot is getting its screenplay from Neil Burger and Dirk Wittenborn with word that Universal may be courting Angelina Jolie to play the lead (again according to Movieweb).

Dracula Untold

Dracula Untold found its way into Halloween Horror Nights, so it stands to reason that Universal will hopefully follow suit an bring the rest of their rebooted monsters into the theme park for the epic Halloween event, as the films are released over the next several years

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