It’s Alive! Universal Studios Plans to Bring Its Classic Monster Lineup Back to Life

During the golden age of Hollywood, Universal Studios made a name for itself by making monster movies. Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Mummy and more all haunted Universal’s movies for decades, frightening and delighting audiences from the 1920s through the 1950s. Back in the day, the studio was responsible for launching the careers of horror legends like Lon Chaney, Jr., Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff.

While in recent years the studio has moved away from its monstrous origins, this week, Universal announced plans to revive its classic monster lineup under the watchful eyes of Alex Kurtzman (Transformers) and Chris Morgan (Furious 7). According to Variety, Universal plans to release one monster movie per year, all set in the same universe to allow for the possibility of crossovers. They’ll be starting with the Mummy (which will begin shooting in early 2016), followed by Dracula, Van Helsing, Bride of Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man. 

It’s unclear exactly what the monster reboot will look like: Variety observes that Universal seems to be taking some inspiration from recent superhero franchises (for instance, by creating a shared universe for their characters), but Kurtzman and Morgan insist they want to pay tribute to the original subject matter, while bringing the monsters into the 21st century. 

“We’re creating a mythology, so we’re looking at this canon and thinking, ‘What are the rules?'" Kurtzman explained to Variety. “What can we break and what are the ones that are untouchable?”

Fortunately for fans of the original Universal monsters, Kurtzman and Morgan seem to be pretty big horror geeks, themselves: “I was raised on monster movies,” Morgan told Variety. “I used to make my own fake puke, so I wouldn’t have to go to school and could stay home and watch things like Cat People on TV. I can still tell you what I used—orange juice, Saltines, Pepsi, and milk.”