The Mummy Director Talks Monster Movie Universe, Teases Later Films

Universal's classic monster movie universe kicks off next summer with The Mummy, and the first trailer is now online. The film's director Alex Kurtzman has now spoken about what audiences can expect from the future films in the series.

In an interview with Collider, Kurtzman explained that although the movies will overlap--for example, Russell Crowe's Dr Jeykll features in The Mummy--it was important for the films to work in the their own right. "I can't tell you how much I believe that in order for you to enjoy The Mummy, you have to have a satisfying mummy experience," he said. "If we are then in that context able to set up a larger world? Great! But the setup of that larger world and whatever characters Tom may meet over the course of the mummy movie have to be part of the mummy movie. It cannot take you out of that."

Although there have been numerous rumours about potential future movies in this universe, so far The Mummy is the only one with a confirmed release date. However, Kurtzman confirmed that The Creature from the Black Lagoon was one under serious consideration.

"I want that to be in the jungle," he revealed. "Okay, we're in the Amazon. Where do you want to shoot that, on the backlot or in the Amazon? No, we have to actually go there. Now you're talking about a big movie.

"I think if you look at something like Creature, the story starts to tell you what it wants to be and how big it wants to be. The beauty of monster movies is that because they're psychologically complicated, there are certain monsters that are better served by being really intimate and really small."

We know that a Van Helsing movie is in development, and Crowe is expected to return for a standalone Jekyll and Hyde film. It has also been reported that Johnny Depp could star in The Invisible Man. Other names that are reportedly in consideration for roles in the series are Dwayne Johnson and Javier Bardem, to play the Wolfman and Doctor Frankenstein respectively. Universal has scheduled further films for April 2018 and February 2019.

The Mummy hits theaters on June 9, 2017.