Universal Studios' lineup of classic monsters is about to experience a rebirth. This summer, The Mummy reboot will launch a cinematic universe populated by the horror creatures that terrified moviegoers from the 1920s to the 1950s. One of the monsters that will resurface in this shared world is the Creature from the Black Lagoon. A remake of the 1954 classic has been in development on and off for years, but with the establishment of this new franchise, the aquatic terror is coming close once again to returning to the big screen. Now the project has Aquaman's Will Beall attached to write.
Back when this current Creature from the Black Lagoon reboot was announced in 2015, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 writer Jeff Pinker was hired to write the script. Now Deadline is reporting that Will Beall has taken over scripting duties. Beall will be working off his own original idea rather than rework existing material. Beall rose to prominence in 2013 with Gangster Squad, and he recently got his feet wet with the DCEU's Aquaman (pun definitely intended), which will be released in December 2018. Along with Creature from the Black Lagoon, he is also writing The Legend of Conan, a sequel to 1982's Conan the Barbarian.
The original Creature from the Black Lagoon followed a group of scientists exploring the Amazon who came across a human-fish hybrid, dubbed the "Gill-man," and had to survive its wrath. Two sequels followed: 1955's Revenge of the Creature and 1956's The Creature Walks Among Us. Ever since John Landis expressed interest in remaking Creature from the Black Lagoon, various creative minds have wanted to put their own spin on the classic movie, but to no success. There was even a period back in 2001 when director Gary Ross signed on write the remake with his father Arthur, who co-wrote the original Creature from the Black Lagoon movie. Back in 2015, Scarlett Johansson was said to have been offered the lead role, but it's unclear whether the plan is to still have her star nearly two full years later.
Starting with The Mummy's release on June 9, Universal will start introducing the new versions of their classic monsters, and while none of the other projects have been officially assigned release dates yet, the studio did snag April 13, 2018 and February 15, 2019 for this franchise. Depending on when Will Beall finishes his script, Creature from the Black Lagoon could conceivably snag that 2019 spot, but that's just speculation. Other Universal Monster movies on the way include The Wolf Man, Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein and Van Helsing. Casting-wise, Javier Bardem and Johnny Depp have been brought on to play Frankenstein's monster and the Invisible Man, respectively, while Russell Crowe's Dr. Henry Jekyll will be one of the main connective threads between these movies.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more details on the new Creature from the Black Lagoon movie as they come in.
