Good news on the classic monsters front! We have just found out that ‘Dracula Untold‘ will officially kick off the reboot of the Universal Classic Monster Universe and that the film underwent reshoots to make that happen.
If reshoots were added in after the fact, I would wager that this may not have been the initial plan when the film was in production. I don’t know about you, but I’m always a little iffy when something sounds like it’s being made to fit something else after the fact. Still, the early previews for ‘Dracula Untold’ look promising and we’ll all know once it is launched exactly how it does.
Here’s what producer Alissa Phillips had to say about ‘Dracula Untold’ at the UK premiere in London. She explains how it is the first movie in the Universal Monsters reboot:
“[‘Dracula Untold’ is] part of the monster launch, the revamp, yeah. I was really excited to be a part of that. When we started out, we weren’t, but then we found out that they were gonna do it. Working with Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan, who are very much a part of creating ‘The Mummy’ [reboot] and the other ones, it’s been fun to be a part of that.”
While the creators always had sequels in mind when they started, it was the inclusion in the larger Monster Universe that caused recent additions. However they couldn’t have needed to add too much with this film taking place in the 15th century and most of the other Universal Monster films set to take place in modern times.
I wonder what they could have possibly added to increase the chances of a tie-in.
You can watch the video of the interview with Hey U Guys where she is quoted below:
Synopsis:
‘Dracula Untold’ follows a young prince who, when the lives of his wife and child are put in danger by a bloodthirsty sultan, risks his soul to save them, and in the process becomes the first vampire.
‘Dracula Untold’ stars Luke Evans, Sarah Gadon, Diarmaid Murtaugh, Dominic Cooper and Samantha Barks. Directed by Gary Shore, the film will debut in theaters on October 17th, 2014.