New Frankenstein Movie Coming from James Wan?

Are you ready forJames Wan’s Frankenstein? It seems more and more as the week goes on, Universal is quietly trying to revamp their failed Dark Universe series of monster movies. Case in point, today we’re hearing thatAquaman,The Conjuring,Saw, andInsidiousdirector James Wan has been meeting with potential directors for an all-new take on Mary Shelley’s classicFrankenstein.

Cool, right? Well, maybe and maybe not. You see, this update was evidently part of a recent article that let us all know thatRocketmandirector Dexter Fletcher is helming a standalone movie centered on infamousDracula henchman Renfield. But the section about Wan’s upcoming take on Mary Shelley’sFrankensteinhas since been removed… which is strange. But then again, maybe the powers that be behind the scenes are just holding out the reveal of the new movie until today, which marks the 88th anniversary of James Whale’s original version starring Boris Karloff hitting theaters back in 1931.

And if this ends up being true, then as mentioned above, I think it’s safe to say that Universal is planning to bring back their failedDark Universelabel of classic movie monsters in a big, bad way. I mean there’s already Blumhouse and writer-director Leigh Whannell working on their reboot ofThe Invisible Manwith Elisabeth Moss, andRocketmandirector Dexter Fletcher helming the above-mentioned standaloneRenfieldmovie. Add in James Wan’sFrankensteinand I think the Dark Universe is back in business.

And this is not the first time Universal has tried to bringFrankensteinback to the screen. You might remember that back when Universal was all-kinds of gung-ho about crafting their Dark Universe of classicUniversal Monsters,No Country for Old MenandPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Talesactor Javier Bardem was slated to play Frankenstein’s Monster. But as we all know all too well by now, that film was going to beBeauty and the BeastandCandyman 2: Farewell to the Fleshdirector Bill Condon’s take onBride of Frankenstein. And that movie was infamously canceled right under the feet of the cast and crew who were deep into pre-production when the axe (finally) fell. Let’s hope Wan’s planned version makes it further than that.

Now, for those who have never taken an English course, the tale of Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his misguided monster was first told in author Mary Shelley’s novelFrankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheuswhich was published way back on July 08, 2025. Shelley was just 18 when she wrote the book after her lover and future husband Percy B. Shelley and Lord Byron had a competition to see who could write the best horror story. And if that doesn’t present you fellow would-be writers with enough inspiration to publish that first novel, I don’t know what will.

So whether or not this new take on Mary Shelley’sFrankensteinby producerJames Wanends up being true or not, only time will tell. Again, my real interest in this piece is whether or not Universal’s abandoned Dark Universe is back. I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see how well Blumhouse and writer-director Leigh Whannell’s upcoming reboot ofThe Invisible Mandoes at the box-office. Until then, this story originally ran in an article over at Variety but has since been deleted saysBloody Disgusting.