Early next month, The Mummy will be kicking off Dark Universe, a shared universe of iconic monsters first popularized on film by Universal back in the 1930s. For some time, we’ve known they’ve planned to include interpretations of many characters like Frankenstein’s Monster, the Invisible Man, and Doctor Jekyll, but the actual schedule surrounding this has been understandably murky. After all, they want to make sure their first film coming out the get isn’t dead on arrival.

However, weeks in advance of the release of The Mummy, it seems that Universal is confident enough in the film to announce their next big step. According to the studio, the next project on their slate of films is Bride of Frankenstein. As recently reported by us, the film is set to be directed by Beauty and the Beast helmer Bill Condon, and he will be directing the film from a screenplay from Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp. What’s more is that the film has an official release date of February 14, 2019.

RELATED: Dark Universe Is The Official Name Of The Universal Monsters Universe

Previously it was announced that the next film on the Dark Universe slate would hit theaters on April 13, 2018, but Universal has since decided to drop that in favor for the 2019 Bride release as the next installment in this universe. As of right now, there is no actress set to play the Bride, but on board to play Frankenstein’s Monster is Javier Bardem, who is set to show up in Piratesof the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales later this week.

“I’m very excited to bring a new Bride of Frankenstein to life on screen, particularly since James Whale’s original creation is still so potent,” stated Condon.  â€œThe Bride of Frankenstein remains the most iconic female monster in film history, and that’s a testament to Whale’s masterpiece—which endures as one of the greatest movies ever made.” 

This all sounds very promising to me, who has been a fan of these monsters ever since checking out a good portion of the Universal monsters catalogue back in college. Let’s hope that The Mummy is a film that is worthy of the name, and that it gains a big enough audience for this next one to move forward. Luckily for this universe, they are much less dependent on one another than your standard superhero film. As such, a failure for The Mummy may not necessarily mean a failure for Bride of Frankenstein.

Are you excited to check out Bride of Frankenstein? Let us know your thoughts down below!

Don’t forget to share this post on your Facebook wall and with your Twitter followers! Just hit the buttons on the top of this page.

SOURCE: Universal