Photo credit: Jaguar PS / Shutterstock.com
Photo credit: Jaguar PS / Shutterstock.com

“Everything old is new again.”  That tried-and-true mantra has worked for a long time for a long list of products and services, the entertainment industry most certainly among them.  Decades ago, “monster movies” ruled the silver screen, with films about such scary figures as Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, the Wolfman, and more all in prime demand.  As Hollywood looks for the “next big thing” after the rise of the superhero film, it certainly seems as if we may be headed back into monster mayhem sooner rather than later.

Lionsgate currently has a creative team developing a feature-film version of the 2007 BBC mini-series ‘Jekyll’ (written by ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Sherlock’ guru Steven Moffat), which is itself an extrapolation of the classic two-faced tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde.  The TV series tells the tale of a descendant of the original character; as IMDb explains it:

Adapted from the famous novel by Robert Louis Stephenson, this contemporary thriller follows Dr. Tom Jackman as he uses an array of modern technology in an increasingly desperate attempt to hold at bay a deadly foe: Mr. Hyde, his savage and ruthless alter ego. Although they time-share the same body, Mr. Hyde is significantly stronger and faster than Tom — and his strength is still growing. The stakes get even higher when Hyde learns of the existence of Tom’s beautiful wife, Claire, and their two children, whom he uses as pawns in his power play against Tom. The doctor relies heavily on his assistant, psychiatric nurse Katherine Reimer, to help him somehow keep Hyde in check. Peter Syme is Tom’s best friend, Miranda Callendar is a private eye who stumbles onto Tom’s bizarre double life, and Benjamin is an American overseeing a mission to overtake and capture Hyde.

Chris Evans, he of Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Captain America fame, is reportedly close to signing on to play the lead role, although nothing has been confirmed as of yet.  While audiences are most familiar with Evans from his work in the MCU, he has flexed his acting muscle a bit in such smaller-but-memorable roles in films like ‘Snowpiercer‘ and ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,’ so he certainly would make an interesting choice for this film.  Much of the creative team for the film is already in place, including Ellen DeGeneres and Jeff Kleeman as producers and Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry teaming up to write the script.

It also bears mentioning that, since Stevenson’s original works with the character are now in the public domain, anyone can make a movie featuring Jekyll and Hyde if they so desired; in fact, Universal Pictures is also utilizing the character in their upcoming “Universal Monsters” shared-universe series of films.  First up from them is a reboot of ‘The Mummy’ starring Tom Cruise, and it has already been announced that Russell Crowe will be playing Dr. Jekyll in that film, likely as a means to start the “crossover fever” and possibly parlay his way into the character’s own solo film outing.

Source: Collider

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Tony Schaab mixed up all this fake puke at home and then he went to this movie theater, hid the puke in his jacket, climbed up to the balcony, and then he made a noise like this: hua-hua-hua-huaaaaaaa… and then he dumped it over the side, all over the people in the audience. And then – this was horrible – all the people started getting sick and throwing up all over each other… and he never felt so bad in his entire life!  A lover of most things sci-fi and horror, Tony is an author by day and a DJ by night. Come hang out with Tony on Facebook and Twitter to hear him spew semi-funny nonsense and get your opportunity to finally put him in his place.