The more we learned from Bill Condon about Bride of Frankenstein, set to be the next film in Universal's Dark Universe franchise, the less solid it sounded. First he suggested it wouldn't be part of Dark Universe at all, perhaps because Tom Cruise's The Mummy failed to set the box office on fire. With Angelina Jolie still unsigned and recently agreeing to star in Maleficent 2 at the same time shooting was to begin, nothing was going quite right. And that makes today's news somewhat expected.
Universal has delayed production on Bride of Frankenstein, which was supposed to begin next February. The break is to allow for screenwriter David Koepp, who also wrote The Mummy, to do some rewrites. It has also been yanked completely off the calendar, leaving open its February 2019 release date. Here's the statement from Universal:
“After thoughtful consideration, Universal Pictures and director Bill Condon have decided to postpone Bride of Frankenstein. None of us want to move too quickly to meet a release date when we know this special movie needs more time to come together. Bill is a director whose enormous talent has been proven time and again, and we all look forward to continuing to work on this film together.”
While Javier Bardem remains in talks to play Frankenstein, the delay could allow for Universal to sign Jolie in the title role.
