New Van Helsing Will Be Inspired By "Mad Max"

So far, Universal's monster movie series has involved a lot more rumour and speculation than actual hard news. The Mummy has finished shooting, but no further movies have been officially announced yet. However, the screenwriter of the new Van Helsing film has now revealed a few details about the direction in which that project is heading.

Eric Heisserer spoke to Hitfix this week to promote his new film Lights Out, and was asked about progress on the latest movie to feature the legendary vampire hunter. "I can only say that early on, our inspiration for his behavior and his mannerisms was all in Mad Max," he revealed.

Heisserer went on to explain that while the studio's monster movie franchise would be an interconnected universe, audiences could expect a variety of tones and styles across the series.

"I can say that the decision that a lot of us made was to go and just write the best movie we could in our own corner and make sure it's good on its own," he said. "[We] didn't necessarily need to link arm-in arm-with anybody else. And to be tonally different from the other films.

"One may be a little bit more comedic, action-adventure-y, one can be very much a traditional horror piece. That kind of thing. And then we'll see what happens as the projects evolve and we all get a chance to convene and talk, and make sure the movies feel like they're all in the same world."

The Mummy will be the first in the series to hit cinemas, and it arrives in June 2017. It is directed by Star Trek writer Alex Kurtzman and stars Tom Cruise.

While no further titles have been announced, Universal have set release slots for the next two movies, which will arrive in April 2018 and February 2019.

The studio is certainly looking to attract major talent to the universe--Russell Crowe will play Dr Jeykll in The Mummy, while Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, and Dwayne Johnston have reportedly all been approached to play other iconic monster movie characters.