Dracula Untold NOT part of Universal Monsters universe

It turns out ‘Dracula Untold’ isn’t a Universal Monsters film after all.

It was long-rumoured that ‘Dracula Untold’ was the unofficial launch of Universal’s Monsters franchise – a shared universe which will bring the likes of The Mummy, Wolf Man and Dracula back to the big screen.

But it seems that’s not quite the case…

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During an interview with Screen Rant, ‘The Mummy’ director Alex Kurtzman gave a concrete answer as to whether ‘Dracula Untold’ will connect to this larger film franchise.

The Answer? “No.”

Not exactly what we all thought. After all, ‘Dracula Untold’ star Luke Evans has long championed the film as the start of a new Monsters franchise. But while that may have been the original plan, it looks as though Dracula has been given the shaft.

At least, for the time being.

Of course, the real test will be the release of ‘The Mummy’ which should officially launch the new Universal Monsters franchise with cameos from Dr Jekyll (played by Russell Crowe) as well as The Invisible Man (played by Johnny Depp).

Does this mean Dracula won’t be part of this universe?

Not likely. After all, he’s one of the most recognisable monsters in film history. But whether or not Dracula turns out to be Luke Evans (or instead, they forge ahead with another reboot) remains to be seen.

“I believe strongly that the only way you can build a universe is not to start by trying to build a universe,” said Kurtzman. “If you want to get there, the only way you’re going to get there is if the audience allows you to get there.”

“You have to do great individual films first,” he added. “The audience has to fall in love with those movies first, and those characters first, and if they do and you develop an organic story reason to start bringing them together, great! But you can’t start with ‘Let’s just mash everybody together’.”

It certainly sounds as though Kurtzman is going about this the right way – getting his own film right as a priority, before worrying about building upon that.

“In order for you to enjoy The Mummy, you have to have a satisfying mummy experience,” he explained. “If we are then in that context able to set up a larger world? Great! But the setup of that larger world and whatever characters [star Tom Cruise] may meet over the course of the mummy movie have to be part of the mummy movie. It cannot take you out of that.”

‘The Mummy’ heads to cinemas on 9 June 2017.

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