| spurgeonryan said: I think if they just could have built on the recent Mummy movie, found a good director for the next one, and put a bit more money into it the Universe could still easily happen. The Mummy did not lose that much money and has probably broken even or better with DVD. Oh well, like Justice League we will have to wait another decade for a proper universe.
http://www.slashfilm.com/invisible-man-writer-exits/
Universal’s ambitious Dark Universe was supposed to be a star-studded action franchise on par with Marvel’s MCU. But instead, it seems like it’s dead on arrival. The most recent blow to the slowly lumbering franchise comes from the writer of the planned The Invisible Man film starring Johnny Depp. Ed Solomon (Men in Black, Now You See Me), who had been attached to the project for nearly two years, has officially parted ways with the movie. Solomon, who was first announced as the writer for The Invisible Man in 2016, revealed to Digital Spy that he is no longer working on the project.
This news comes on the heels of lead Dark Universe producers Alex Kurtzman (director of The Mummy) and Chris Morgan (Fast & Furious) exiting the franchise, leaving the universe without anyone at its head. But, let’s be honest, the franchise seemed like it was doomed from the start. First, there was Universal’s over-eagerness to establish a cinematic universe without any investment in a good story. Instead, the studio banked on audience familiarity with its classic movie monsters and the box office draw of its stars: Tom Cruise as Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe as Jekyll/Hyde, Johnny Depp as the Invisible Man, Javier Bardem as Frankenstein’s monster, and Sofia Boutella as the Mummy. What followed was the critical and commercial bombing of The Mummy, a limp, lifeless excuse for a blockbuster that wasted the talents of its stars and only grossed $80 million domestically on of a reported $125 million budget. It’s the second time Universal has put the cart before the horse with a planned cinematic universe — 2014’s Dracula Untold starring Luke Evans was initially supposed to be the launching pad for the Dark Universe. Its poor box office gross was disappointing enough for the studio to pull the movie out of the cinematic universe altogether — something that Universal can’t do this time with The Mummy, which unwisely set up future sequels with Crowe’s Jekyll/Hyde
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What they needed to do was make sure The Mummy was a good movie first. The Mummy was just plain not a good movie, which is pointed out in the article you quoted. It literally spoofed "An American Werewolf in London" for no reason whatsoever (dead friend talking to Tom Cruise). And, Russell Crowe's transformation from Dr. Jeckyl to Mr. Hyde was ridiculously weak. It literally consisted of him adding colored contact lenses and talking in a "cockney" accent. John Barrymore's 1920 transformation puts it to shame. Considering almost 100 years have passed in the make-up/effects department, that really, really says something.
If you're going to build a "shared cinematic universe", you need a strong foundation. DC already suffers this problem. Universal is worse off, because there are far more people willing to see a bad movie on Superman and Batman's name alone than there are for the Classic Monsters.
