Eternals director rebooting Dracula as a “sci-fi Western”

Remember when Universal was trying to have its own version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the “Dark Universe,” a network of movies starring classic monsters like Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy? Well, that sputtered pretty badly, but the studio is still making new monster movies, and perhaps they could be working their way back to something grander…

But first things first: Chloé Zhao, the director of Marvel’s upcoming superhero tentpole flick The Eternals, has signed up to make a new Dracula movie. “I’ve always been fascinated by vampires and the concept of the Other they embody,” Zhao said in a statement published by The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m very excited to work with Donna, Peter and the team at Universal to reimagine such a beloved character.”

That all sounds pretty high-minded, but did we mention that the movie is going to be a “futuristic, sci-fi Western”? There’s no word on how Zhao will work in that angle, but consider me intrigued.

Dracula, obviously, is a very old character who’s been repurposed dozens of times since Bram Stoker’s original book came out in 1897. In fact, this year is the 90th anniversary of Universal’s original Dracula movie starring Bela Lugosi.

Now imagine that, but also cowboys and spaceships.

Is Universal angling to bring back the Dark Universe?

Blumhouse Productions, who were behind last year’s successful The Invisible Man and are helping Universal reboot Frankenstein and The Wolf Man, are not involved in the new Dracula movie. With all those monster movies coming, you can see why I suspect that Universe might be angling to revive its Dark Universe idea in some form. And that’s before you consider that director Paul Feig, who’s currently working on the Netflix movie The School For Good And Evil, is still apparently very excited about his own Dark Universe movie Dark Army.

“Oh, Dark Army. I love that project so much,” Feig recently told Collider. “I think the studio thinks it’s a little too expensive, perhaps. God as my witness, I’m gonna make that movie. I’m so obsessed with making that movie. One of the many reasons why I was drawn to doing this current Netflix [movie] is that there’s a lot of stuff I can work out in it, as far as effects and all that, that I can bring to Dark Army. I love it. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. It’s one of my favorite lead characters I’ve ever come up with. So, fingers crossed that we will make it someday.”

So there you go, the Dark Universe will happen so help Paul Feig.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels