Horror director James Wan is developing a remake of The Creature From The Black Lagoon.
The Hollywood Reporter is stating that the Conjuring director has been developing the project and is currently in early talks with Universal Studios to direct this new iteration of the studio’s classic monster. This is the first project to come from Wan following the acquisition of his Atomic Monster production shingle by indie horror powerhouse Blumhouse Productions. Blumhouse has a first-look deal with Universal, owner of the Gill-Man character.
Wan is of course no stranger to stories set underwater, having directed the two Aquaman superhero films for Warner Brothers. Combined with his extensive horror film resume, he certainly sounds like a good fit for a project that the Reporter described as ” a grounded, modernized retelling that will lean into visceral horror, while still paying respect to the original.”
The original Creature From The Black Lagoon was released in 1954 and was the last new monster in the studios long-running horror franchise. The film, which was released in 3D, was popular enough to spawn two sequels – Revenge Of The Creature (1955) and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956). Revenge Of The Creature was also released in 3D and marked the first screen appearance of a young actor named Clint Eastwood.
Getting the Gill-Man back onto the big screen has been an on-and-off project for Universal for decades. In the early 1980s, John Landis was set to produce a remake with The Quatermass Experiment creator Nigel Kneale supplying the screenplay. Horror maestro John Carpenter also took a stab at developing a Creature remake a decade later that also went nowhere. Offers to Peter Jackson and Ivan Reitman to direct the project also fell through.
In the early 2000’s, Guillermo del Toro was brought on to develop a new take on the property. However, studio executives disapproved of the direction del Toro wanted to take the story, so the director took his story, with some minor tweaks, to Fox Searchlight turning it into The Shape Of Water. The film would go on to earn 13 Academy Award nominations, ultimately winning four including Best Picture and Best Director for del Toro.
For a while, the Creature was set to be included in Universal’s Dark Universe franchise initiative before that exploded on its launchpad.
