Universal's BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN Is Still in Development with Screenwriter David Koepp

Universal Pictures hasn’t given up on their Bride of Frankenstein reboot yet! The film was originally going to be a part of the Dark Universe that was being set up, but when that fell apart and was burned at the stake, director Bill Condon (Beauty and the Beast) and screenwriter David Koepp were given the greenlight to rework the script to get the project to a place that everyone would be happy with.

At the time, Javier Bardem was set to star in the film and they were looking at Angelina Jolie and Gal Gadot to possibly star. That was two years ago, and since then Condon and Bardem have left the project, but Koepp is still very much involved and is still working on the script.

During an interview with Collider, Koepp offered a promising update:

“That was one thing I did during quarantine – I brought back Bride of Frankenstein into a place where I kind of always wanted it to be. Universal was very gracious to let me try again. Because they had geared up and shut down famously in the Dark Universe fiasco. Well, not fiasco, but disappointment. So I have a version now and they have a version that we all really like. I think they’re talking to directors now.”

Koepp went on to say that this movie won’t be "the great big, $150 million extravaganza with giant movie stars. It’s not as scaled-down as Invisible Man but much more reasonable, doable thing, with, I think, a really cool idea and it’s all present day.”

Director James Whale’s 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein is one of my favorite Universal Monster movies. It’ll be interesting to see what this new modern-day story will entail. I’m not the biggest fan of the idea of these classic stories being set in modern-day, but it worked for The Invisible Man, so maybe Koepp’s vision of the story will be something surprisingly good.