Yesterday, the Playlist laid out evidence indicating why Hollywood’s continued faith in remakes has been misguided at best. For the most part, remakes are financial sinkholes, and for every inspired new take on a story, there’s at least a half dozen more lacking a decent core idea or any feeling it has been made with any kind of passion. And one of the more increasingly dull trends in modern cinema is the idea that anything given a fresh coat of paint needs to be “dark.” But the industry isn’t willing to let go of that particular strategy quite yet— for instance, Universal is planning to give a classic character a grim and gritty makeover.
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The studio is launching an ambitious monster movie universe with characters in its catalog, and will be bringing Van Helsing back to the big screen (the new film series will kicks off next year with “The Mummy,” starring Tom Cruise). It will be the first time Universal will be reviving the character since the 2004 flop “Van Helsing” starring Hugh Jackman, and the plan is to model the monster hunter on one of the most successfully relaunched franchises of recent years.
“I can only say that early on, our inspiration for [Van Helsing’s] behavior and his mannerisms was all in Mad Max,” screenwriter Eric Heisserer told HitFix. So he’ll be a loner who doesn’t say much and is perhaps psychologically damaged, but let’s hope the creative team put their own unique stamp on the character.
The good news, however, is that Universal isn’t using a one-style-fits-all approach for its movies.
“One may be a little bit more comedic, action-adventure-y, one can be very much a traditional horror piece,” Heisserer explained. “And then we’ll see what happens as the projects evolve and we all get a chance to convene and talk, and make sure the movies feel like they’re all in the same world.”
Thoughts? Are you ready for Mad Van Helsing? Let us know below.