On May 22, 2017, Universal unveiled its Dark Universe, a new, interconnected series of movies based on the studio’s beloved stable of classic movie monsters. They even released a photo, which looked real enough until you started to see the seams, with Johnny Depp (set to play the Invisible Man); Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (Russell Crowe); Frankenstein’s Monster (Javier Bardem); along with Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella, both mummies and both stars of “The Mummy,” which was set to open later that same summer and kick off the shared, monster-filled universe.
The sky – with an ominous, full moon perched right in the middle of it – was seemingly the limit. Then it all came crashing down, only to be resurrected in sunny Orlando, Florida.
Best laid plans
In addition to the previously announced actors that were set to undergo a monstrous transformation, Angelina Jolie was rumored for a “Bride of Frankenstein” project from “Dreamgirls” director Bill Condon. (Sadly, her deal was not finalized in time for her to be awkwardly positioned within that cursed photo.) And Universal hired Danny Elfman to create spooky music for a new version of the Universal logo; after the initial pass of the iconic globe, the camera would swoop around the other side, revealing the Dark Universe logo and Elfman’s ominous new jingle. The stage was set.
And then “The Mummy” came out.
It grossed almost $410 million globally, which is nothing to sneeze at, but only $80 million of that was from its domestic release. (In terms of Cruise movies, it made less than perceived underachievers “Days of Thunder” and “Oblivion” and, incredibly, an educational IMAX movie about the international space station that he narrated.) But given the movie’s extra-larger budget, which was reported to be between $125 and $195 million, and the punishing reviews that accompanied its release (Bilge Ebiri, writing for the Village Voice, said the movie “plays like a wan assemblage of underdeveloped concepts”), well, the Dark Universe was over before it began.
It wasn’t a wooden stake or a silver bullet or a beam of sunlight that felled the Dark Universe, but a combination of vitriolic reviews, oversized budgets and poor creative management. That most human trait – hubris – also played a key role, as the announcement of the Dark Universe before the first movie in the franchise had even opened reeked of presumptuousness and desperation.
All of those movie star-filled projects in development were quietly shelved, with that original photo becoming something of a legendary totem, endlessly circulated and recirculated with gleeful abandon. In a recurring joke, Matt Patches, executive editor at Polygon, took every opportunity to share the Dark Universe cast photo on social media. “A great idea can never die,” Patches said.
Afterwards, Universal adapted a more grab-baggy approach to its classic monsters. The studio teamed with Blumhouse for budget-conscious versions of “The Invisible Man” (2020) and “Wolf Man” (2025) and released unrelated things like action-horror-comedy “Renfield” and whatever the hell “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” was (both 2023). “The Conjuring” mastermind James Wan is rumored to be working on a new version of “Creature from the Black Lagoon.”
But just like an ancient ghoul crawling out of its dusty sarcophagus, Dark Universe has returned. Only this time, instead of a series of interconnected Universal movies, it’s an equally ambitious theme park land at Universal’s latest theme park – Epic Universe, outside of Orlando, Florida.
Dark Universe, reborn
Dark Universe is one of five lands that make up Epic Universe, a sprawling new theme park that just opened last week.
The entire land, set in the fictitious Darkmoor, manages to do what the cinematic Dark Universe was never able to accomplish – there are various interlocking stories, which braid together and form a cohesive whole. The signature attraction concerns Dr. Frankenstein’s great-great granddaughter Victoria Frankenstein, who wants to establish control over the various rampaging monsters in the land. (As you can imagine, it goes horribly wrong.) You can walk up to an abandoned corner and hear audio from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, arguing heatedly. An off-the-shelf coaster becomes the setting for an encounter with the Wolf Man. You might run into the Invisible Man. Or walk into a bar reserved for monster hunters, with the heads of felled creatures lining the back wall, where you can order a Monocane, the potion that turned the Invisible Man invisible. (It’s Sprite with some glittery goo mixed in.) Mist hangs low throughout the land and every 30 minutes or so the land’s iconic windmill is engulfed in flames, an homage to Universal’s original “Frankenstein.”
Monster-based attractions have long been part of the Universal theme parks, from the Horror Make-Up Show that is still performed at Universal Orlando to the rollercoasters inspired by the Brendan Fraser-led “Mummy” movies (in Hollywood, Orlando and Singapore). There was even a short lived Creature from the Black Lagoon: The Musical attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood that lasted less than a year. And of course there are the yearly Halloween Horror Nights after-hours events at both coasts that bring in millions of dollars every autumn.
What makes Dark Universe special is that it brings in all of the lore that has come before, updates it, and ties it together, something that the films of the Dark Universe were meant to do. And make no mistake, this is truly the resurrection of the Dark Universe; even the logo looks exactly the same.
What’s in a name?
Greg Hall, assistant director of creative design at Universal Creative (basically Universal’s answer to Walt Disney Imagineering), who led point on Dark Universe and its signature attraction, Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, heaped praise on their partners at Universal Pictures, who were with the Dark Universe every step of the way.
As for the name Dark Universe?
“The name is too awesome to not use,” Hall said. The team came up with different names before deciding, “No, Dark Universe is it.” Another person on the Universal team said that the name just made sense, and was much better than anything they had come up with. Plus Universal had already laid claim to the title, so it was easy to shift over to this new project. Or, as Dark Universe super-fan Patches said, “The Dark Universe never went away.”
“It was easy to pick that, but then we had the opportunity to do something really unique with the platform we have as an attraction. The medium is different. It’s unique. We have so many characters and to make them all come together for one show in a specific amount of time – it’s something that no one’s done before.”
Hall said it was difficult to come up with a storyline that could bring together all of the monsters – and all of the different eras of monsters – in a way that would satisfy fans. This was something that, undoubtedly, helped derail the cinematic version of the Dark Universe. “There’s so many different types of monster fans – some are fans of the original ‘Frankenstein’ movies from Universal Pictures. And there’s the newer generation, and they like cartoons or they might like the film that was in the theaters a week ago.” Hall and his team studied what, exactly, made a Universal Monsters movie work.
They came up with three bedrock tenants that guided their own Dark Universe – legacy, mystery and thrill. With legacy, Hall said, it was important to bring the mythology forward, with the help of Victoria Frankenstein, a descendant of the original mad doctor. Mystery is established in the queue for the attraction and in the moss-covered nooks and crannies of Darkmoor. And thrills, obviously, are the monsters that spring to life on the attraction (and, we can attest, they do deliver the thrills).
As for what monster didn’t make it into the attraction, which even includes second-tier characters like the Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Phantom of the Opera, Hall said they were hard-pressed when it came to the Invisible Man. “We had trouble making a figure of a character who is invisible,” Hall said. “We got every character that we wanted in there, and were focused on getting the characters closer to guests and as fast as possible. We’re really proud of everything that’s in there.” As they should be.
In some ways, Dark Universe feels like an extension of Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights agenda, with live characters roaming around and a mainline attraction that will scare you silly. (Universal is opening Universal Horror Unleashed, a standalone, HHN-style attraction, in Las Vegas later this summer.) “We have to show respect to the HHN culture. It sells out every year. It’s part of Universal history. I have a good relationship with their team and we want to make sure the fans of HHN are pleased,” Hall said. He said that guests are already asking about how Darkmoor will be transformed for Halloween. “I can’t wait,” Hall said slyly.
Epic Universe’s Dark Universe, unlike the film franchise planned by the parent company, not only succeeded where that film series collapsed, but it will grow bigger and more complex in the years ahead. Early concept art for the land showed an outdoor amphitheater that, ultimately, wasn’t built. But there’s an expansion pad just outside the current borders of Darkmoor that could easily fit that theater – or a sizable new attraction. But unlike those original plans for the movie, this Dark Universe is going to wait and assess guest satisfaction before trudging into the unknown.
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