Karyn Kusama Is Set to Direct a Dracula Movie for Universal, Produced by Blumhouse

Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man is giving much-needed life to Universal’s Monsterverse, with a No. 1 opening on Feb. 28 and so far raking in $98.3 million, it appears that other original, mid-budget monster movies will be born from this film’s success.

Karyn Kusama, director of Jennifer’s Body, The Invitation and Destroyer, will be at the helm of a new Dracula film, prospectively for Universal, with Blumhouse producing. Penning the script for the film will be long-time Kusama collaborators Matti Manfredi and Phil Hay. There is yet to be a guarantee that the Kusama-Dracula film will be housed at Universal, considering the fact that Dracula is in the public domain. However, the first-look deal with Blumhouse serves as a promising start at another Universal monster movie.

Dracula would follow in the footsteps of The Invisible Man (based on the classic sci-fi novel by H.G. Wells) by adapting monsters (and those they hunt) for the present day. There is also already another untitled project by prestige horror director (and longtime Whannell collaborator) James Wan underway at Universal, with few details revealed so far.

The new approach at Universal will focus on filmmaker instincts, as opposed to attaching big-name stars to projects to encourage viewer turnout. Especially considering Universal’s 2017 Tom Cruise-starring The Mummy and its considerable failure, the studio is set on having stand-alone monster movies with a unique vision instead of bland, IP-driven remakes.