Guillermo del Toro has a slew of unproduced projects, as is the case with most artists. There are usually multiple project ideas that are being developed simultaneously, but one of them getting green-lit usually means that the other one will not happen, thanks to time and resource constraints. Del Toro saw himself exit one Tom Cruise project for another film that is yet to see the light of day.
However, the film that he was starring in would have been the perfect counterbalance for his blunder with The Mummy. Despite this film being in the works way before the Dark Universe was even a thought, the film would have been the perfect antithesis to The Mummy, thanks to its content, especially in the hands of Guillermo del Toro.
Tom Cruise could have played Old Man Van Helsing
Back in 2010, Vulture reported that Guillermo del Toro was actively developing a Van Helsing film for Universal Pictures, following the famed vampire hunter. The new twist on the story would have been the fact that Helsing would have aged quite a bit, and would probably be heading towards a final confrontation with Dracula, putting their fight to rest once and for all, in one way or another.
While fans can only speculate how this film would have played out, audiences do know how badly The Mummy bombed, which saw Tom Cruise trying to kickstart a shared universe with monsters that are under its banner. This was supposed to be a promising endeavor, one that followed in on the footsteps of The Mummy trilogy of the late 90s, and early 2000s, despite being disconnected. However, not only did the film fail miserably, but it also tanked any hopes of the franchise picking up.
Should Universal give its monsters a second chance?
While Universal seems to have failed on the big screen to get a cinematic universe off the ground, there seems to be a lot of love being given to horror icons in recent times. IPs like Nosferatu and Creature Commandos have been extremely well-received by fans and critics alike, and Universe Monsters seem to be having a blast over at Image Comics.
While there does not seem to be a plan to have these monsters share a screen anytime soon, Universal might want to keep these characters in more capable hands, to actually get some sort of franchise off the ground.
With the MCU also heading towards including more supernatural characters in its lineup, such as Blade, Universal might find itself in a position to capitalize on its library of monsters. This year is also going to see Guillermo del Toro deliver his Frankenstein to Netflix, and should it do well, Universal Pictures could look towards fleshing out its cinematic universe in a manner in which it can be developed into a lucrative franchise.
This would require that the studio onboard directors who are good with horror and dark fantasy, such as del Toro himself, Robert Eggers, James Wan, Jordan Peele, and Sam Raimi.
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