Despite the domestic box office disappointment for this summer’s The Mummy (which actually did bring in over $320 million from international markets), Universal is still set to continue their Dark Universe franchise with the next entry: Bride of Frankenstein.
Director Bill Condon (Beauty and the Beast, Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters) will step behind the camera for the film and spoke in a new interview with Forbes about what he’s actually planning to do with the film, saying it goes in ways that a theoretical sequel to the 1935 classic would have gone.
“For me, the James Whale movie is really right there in the pantheon for me. As you know, the Bride is a character who appears in the last five minutes and then is destroyed, so it’s a way to almost continue the movie that you imagine the movie he might have made the third Frankenstein movie but in 2018.”
Condon also offered an update on where they are in the pre-production phase and when they expect to roll cameras on the film.
“I’ve got the same team together that made Beauty and the Beast and we’re building big sets and designing big set pieces, so it’s a pretty big movie…. We start on February 1st, 2018 so it’s the early days but just to be here in London, starting to see locations and to talk about sets that we’re building, it’s very exciting.”
When asked about the ever-present rumor that Angelina Jolie would take on the titular role for the film, Condon wouldn’t confirm any casting just yet.
“Not yet, no. Nothing is set yet. I think pretty soon, but I think we’re trying to figure that out now, but obviously, pretty soon we’re going to have to start really honing in on it. I’m not trying to be coy, but I really shouldn’t say.”
The Bride of Frankenstein remake features a script by David Koepp (War of the Worlds, Jurassic Park) and is set to open in theaters Thursday, February 14, 2019.
