'Mummy' Director Alex Kurtzman Unsure Of His Dark Universe Future

Universal had grand plans around this summer’s reboot of “The Mummy.” Alex Kurtzman‘s film was supposed to set up the studio’s own cinematic universe, officially titled “The Dark Universe” — having to do with the schlocky classic monsters that made the studio famous more than 70 years ago (“Bride of Frankenstein,” “The Invisible Man,” “Wolf Man,” “Dracula” and “Creature From the Black Lagoon.”)

A-list stars were on board: Johnny Depp playing The Invisible Man, Javier Bardem was going to be Frankenstein’s monster and Russell Crowe was tagged as Dr. Jekyll. And Kurtzman, the creative mind behind the Dark Universe, was putting all of this together, even hinting at the possibility of “Phantom of the Opera” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” being included as well.

The whole plan seemed to collapse in June when the Kurtzman-directed, Tom Cruise-starring “The Mummy” was released to miserable reviews and an underwhelming $79M in box-office receipts — the film’s budget was estimated at around $125M. However, the film was saved by its surprising popularity overseas, especially in China and South Korea (earning nearly $400 million worldwide). Nevertheless, the tepid response in North America most likely had Universal ponder the fate of Kurzman’s monster universe.

Now comes the news that Kurtzman himself doesn’t know if he even has a future in the Monsterverse. When asked by IGN, at the Television Critics Association press tour, if he is still involved with the creative team, the 43-year-old director had this to say:

“You know, the truth is, I don’t know. I really don’t know … I haven’t really decided is the honest answer.”

Kurtzman’s response seems utterly head-scratching given that he was pretty much the architect of the Dark Universe. So if he’s really not sure if he’s coming back or doing something within the franchise, that could mean a few things: either he’s being ousted, is being pushed aside or, who knows, maybe Universal is rethinking the whole project.

Kurtzman was the one that helped convince Universal to get on board with a Monsters Cinematic Universe in the first place, so to have him gone speaks volumes about what went wrong with “The Mummy” and how that’s affected the franchise it was meant to launch.

He is still currently on board to produce Bill Condon‘s upcoming “The Bride of Frankenstein,” slated for Valentine’s Day 2019, as well as the aforementioned entries “The Creature from the Black Lagoon,” “The Invisible Man,” and “Van Helsing,” among many others. [IGN]