Universal have unleashed their new Mummy trailer. It is the first of a series in the new Universal Monster Universe – their answer to the DC and Marvel universes.

Monsters versus Heroes

Let’s be honest, over the past decade DC and even more so  Marvel have ruled the cinema world. Every year they release a couple of films that the world holds its breath for. In Marvel’s case, they pretty much always deliver. Not only do they bring out independent films like Captain America, The Hulk, Iron Man, etc. But they also do a lot of crossover films such as Avengers and Civil War. DC, still at the start of their universe, are following suit with Justice League. But as the world sits on the edge of their seats for them, they now have some new competition to deal with. And with Russell Crowe playing the role of Mr. Hyde in The Mummy, it seems Universal will be doing a bit of crossing over themselves.

Some of the films they have lined up are The Mummy, which you can see the trailer to below. Also in the pipeline are Dracula, The Wolfman, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, Van Helsing and The Creature From the Blue Lagoon. Dracula (Untold), The Wolfman, Frankenstein, The Mummy and Van Helsing have all had theatrical re-releases in the past 15-20 years. All bar Van Helsing and The Mummy were more or less box office flops and did not do the classics justice. But being a movie buff myself, I feel we are in a golden age of film. The standard of movie making has skyrocketed. Walking into a studio with a half decent screenplay doesn’t cut it anymore.

Trial and error

The Wolfman re-release in 2010 was pitiful. It was boring and didn’t have any top actors at the time in it and had a second-rate cast. Dracula Untold only released last year was a decent attempt at a reboot, but just didn’t grab the public eye. Van Helsing, probably my favourite re-release on the list, was pretty well done. It had a decent budget. A good cast with Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale at the helm. Great special effects. And an awesome werewolf, being my favourite werewolf on the big screen so far. But it just came out at a time when people went to the cinema to pass time. Now we count down the 18- 24 month wait to a highly anticipated film. This is what Universal are doing differently this time. They are creating a new universe.

Universal play catch up

Universal are huge, they’ve always been around, they’ll always be around. But they are more known for bringing out big budget successful independent films. Let’s break it down.

Disney

• The Avengers
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Toy Story
• Finding Nemo
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Star Wars

Warner Brothers

• Lord of the Rings
• The Hobbit
• Harry Potter
• The Dark Knight Trilogy
• Justice League

Fox

• X-Men
• Avatar
• Independence Day
• Die Hard

Paramount

• Transformers
• Star Trek
• Mission: Impossible

Sony

• James Bond
• Spider-Man
• Men in Black
• Bad Boys

Universal

• Fast and Furious
• Jurassic Park

A new era

You can see that as franchises go Universal are lagging behind. Now with the new monster Universe about to be unleashed, they have a few projects they can get moviegoers excited about. Finally, Universal can create a bit of hype, and if done properly, can create a new generation a monster movie lovers.