It is starting to look like Universal Pictures is moving quickly to throw as many Universal Monsters projects into the works as possible after the success of Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man.
Just the other day it was revealed that A Quiet Place writer/director John Krasinski was developing a Universal Monsters film set in the “world of vampires” for the studio after being approached previously to tackle their Bride of Frankenstein remake.
A new casting grid posted on Daniel Richtman‘s Patreon page claims that Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us) is developing his own Universal Monsters project and is ‘interested in” getting Will Smith for a leading role. There is zero information about the project or what monsters would be explored in the film via the grid posting other than Peele is planning on writing and directing.
Peele would certainly bring his unique visual style and could I would be interested to see what he could bring to the table. As we’ve seen him write and produce the upcoming MGM remake of Candyman and help reboot the Twilight Zone for CBS All Access, so he’s not against rebooting existing IP.
However, we’ve seen plenty of casting grids with names of actors studios were “interested in” and that never ended up getting the role, which is worth noting here. Will Smith is known to be incredibly jumpy about projects and has a string of stories about films he was approached for that he never ended up making including The Matrix.
However, Smith is no stranger to horror having starred in I Am Legend, a remake of the Vincent Price film The Last Man On Earth and the 1970s version Omega Man starring Charlton Heston. Originally, I Am Legend was going to be directed by Alien/Prometheus Ridley Scott and starring Terminator actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
We’ll have to wait and see as this seems like another project in very early development stages.
SOURCE: DANIEL RICHTMAN
