Versatile filmmakerPaul Feigis currently hard at work directing the star-studded Netflix movieThe School for Good and Evil, but with any luck his next project will be one he’s been hoping to make for quite some time. It wasannounced in 2019that theSpyandThe Heatdirector was writing an original Universal monster movie calledDark Army, which will unite original characters and creatures with classic Universal monsters. Feig has long said his aim withDark Armyis to create a film in the vein of the classicJames Whalemonster movies, and not necessarily a horror movie.
Universal Pictures’ plans for its monster universe have been in flux ever since the Tom Cruise-frontedThe Mummyfailed to take off and the studio’s grand designs for an interconnected “Dark Universe”were scrapped.Leigh Whannell’s stripped-down approach toThe Invisible Manwas far more successful last year, and Universal now appears to be taking it one film at a time, with Whannell now attached to directRyan GoslinginaWolfmanmoviethat’s expected to be similar in scope toThe Invisible Man.
RELATED:Paul Feig Talks ‘Dark Army’ Plans: “I Want to Make a True Monster Movie"Which may explain why Universal bristled at the initial scope of Feig’sDark Army. But as Feig revealedwhile appearing on The Collider Podcastto discuss his brilliant filmBridesmaidsfor its 10th anniversary, the director is currently rewriting the script ofDark Armyto bring the scope down a tad, and he’s hoping it’ll be his next project after he finishesThe School for Good and Evil:
“Yeah there is [positive momentum on Dark Army]. I’m desperate to do it. Universal had a moment of pause because I think it seemed a little too expensive at the scope that I did it at, so I’m going to go in and do a rewrite to kind of bring it down. I mean the scope will still be big, but I actually think they were right, I think I was trying to bite off more than I probably should for what I would hope would be the first installment in something I want to carry on, so I’m rewriting that right now and fingers crossed that could be the next thing I could do. That’s the genre that I’ve been wanting to do forever, just a classic monster movie. Not a horror movie, but a classic monster movie in the tradition of the James Whale and Tod Browning movies. So yeah, hopefully that will be up next.”
It’s fascinating that Feig says hereDark Armyis planned to launch a franchise of its own, but not unexpected. Whale directedFrankenstein, the originalThe Invisible Man, andBride of Frankenstein, and given Feig’s penchant for traversing various genres with ease (sometimes within the same film, as with the underratedA Simple Favor) I have no doubt his version of a Universal monster movie will be memorable.
So there you have it. Feig’s passion projectDark Armyis not only still alive, it could end up being his next movie. Hear more from Feig, including his approach to directing comedy and memories makingBridesmaids, on the latest episode of The Collider Podcast below or wherever you get your podcasts.
