When Universal announced their plans to develop a new movie universe around their pantheon of classic Monsters – including Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, etc. – they cited that the first “official” film to come out of the new shared Monsterverse would be The Mummy, which is in development now under director Alex Kurtzman.
That left a big question mark over their latest Monster pic, Dracula Untold, which seemed like it would stand separate from the rest of the films. According to Badass Digest, that may not be the case:
“A few months ago sources told me that Universal did some reshoots on Dracula Untold in order to allow it to fit into the larger Monsterverse, and word from junketeers who have seen early screenings backs this up. I don’t know what they have included in the film, but they have put some elements in that will allow the studio to tie this movie into the new initiative. So while The Mummy will be the first official movie in the new Universal Monsters series, Dracula Untold is kind of the prologue to it all.”
On paper, this is a smart thing for Universal to do, as it could negate the need to reboot Dracula all over again. However, early reviews suggest that Dracula Untold is just as bad as we all feared, so those reshoots may have been for nothing.
We’ll know more of what Universal’s plans are for the Dracula character when Dracula Untold hits theaters on October 10. If it’s a success, we can safely assume that they’ll move forward with this prologue idea. If not, expect yet another reboot once the new Monsters universe gets underway.
Originally published October 2, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
