The vampire hunting physician, Dr. Van Helsing, made his first appearance to pop culture in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. Over the years, many incarnations of him have been weaved throughout other classic monster storylines. But now Deadline reports that Van Helsing will return, from Universal, James Wan and Overlord director Julius Avery.
Universal Pictures has been slowly easing back into its Dark Universe. Which would have seen classic monsters come together in a shared universe. However, Universal was forced to reevaluate that route after The Mummy (2017) failed to meet box office expectations. Sources for Deadline say that the new film will be ” an original horror/thriller inspired by the studio’s classic monster legacy set in the world of Van Helsing.” Julius Avery (Overlord) will be directing and James Wan producing through his Atomic Monster banner. Eric Person is penning the original script and Avery will handle the rewriting of the script.
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The previous 2004 Van Helsing film starred Hugh Jackman playing the title role, but floundered at the box office. Now that Avery is attached, it’s possible we could be getting another rated R monster movie. After the success the rated R, Invisible Man, the studio seems more willing to allow for a much darker, gorier version of Van Helsing. Two things that Avery has proved himself more than capable of executing in his gore ridden 2018 film Overlord.
Van Helsing will hopefully make a triumphant return to the big screen for Universal and Avery. Be sure to follow ScaryNerd and we will keep you updated as this story develops.
