Paul Feig is a filmmaker who has one of the most intriguing careers already. He’s known most for his work in comedies like Bridesmaids, The Heat and Spy, but he’s also really branched out with things such as his 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters and the 2018 thriller A Simple Favor, and the lineup of upcoming movies this year includes his adaptation of the book The School for Good and Evil. Feig is always busy with something, but what about his Dark Army movie, which was set to be an original idea featuring a number of classic Universal monsters?
Back in 2019, it was announced that Paul Feig’s Dark Army was in development based on an original idea by the filmmaker. Since the announcement though, it doesn’t sound like much has progressed. Here’s Feig’s latest update:
That’s one that’s driving me crazy. The problem with that is that some people read it and think it’s too expensive. I never saw it that way, but that’s what I hear. I’m still working on it and trying to get it to that sweet spot, but it’s hard. I don’t even want to tell you about a couple of other things that we can’t get sold. It’s like, ‘Oh, my God, who wouldn’t want this?’ But probably every producer in town feels that way too.
During a recent interview with Collider, Paul Feig shared that he’s not getting very far with Dark Army due to budget concerns from producers. Around a year ago, Feig shared a similar update, so the movement here has been pretty stagnant. That being said, when the outlet asked the filmmaker whether he was holding out hope for it, he said this:
Yes. I have to make a monster movie. I have to make my monster movie.
With that kind of determination and a name like Paul Feig, I’d imagine when the right time comes, we’ll see Dark Army. But for now, he hasn’t sold anyone on the idea enough to throw their money his way. The idea did come a few months before Leigh Whanell’s The Invisible Man came out and became one of the last box office hits before the pandemic started.
Since the release of the horror film, a number of other Universal Monsters projects have been in development including multiple Dracula movies. Chris McKay is making a dark comedy horror flick called Renfield that will star Nicolas Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as his henchman. Additionally, Jennifer’s Body filmmaker Karyn Kusama and Nomadland and Eternals’ Chloé Zhao have reportedly been developing their own takes on the vampiric count.
James Wan is also developing a Frankenstein movie and Leigh Whannell is following up The Invisible Man with a modern Wolfman starring Ryan Gosling. Perhaps the competition is too high for Universal monster movies? We’ll keep you updated on sorts of movie-related news here on CinemaBlend.
