New Van Helsing Movie Will Feature a Modern Day "Monster Hunter"

Universal's classic monster movie universe will kick off next year, when the Tom Cruise-starring The Mummy hits theaters. There are plenty more connected films in the works, and new details have emerged about the Van Helsing reboot.

Speaking to Collider, co-writer Jon Spaihts explained that the film will present a new take on the classic vampire hunter. "It's a new creation, so it doesn't owe much of a debt to prior films," he said. "It is still a very romantic departure from the character as incepted in Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula. This is a monster hunter with encyclopaedic knowledge, but it's set in the present day and it's filled with good stuff I'm not allowed to talk about.

"I'm very excited about this new incarnation of Van Helsing, and I hope that as the Universal monsters cinematic universe begins to take flight, we'll see him cropping up in other stories as well."

Spaihts is working on the film alongside co-writer Eric Heisserer. In July, Heisserer said that "early on, our inspiration for [Van Helsing's] behavior and his mannerisms was all in Mad Max." The last version of the vampire hunter was played by Hugh Jackman in the 2004 movie.

The Mummy is the only film in Universal's monster universe to have a confirmed released date, and will arrive on June 8, 2017. It is directed by Alex Kurtzman, who co-wrote the first two Star Trek movies in the current reboot series. Russell Crowe is set to make an appearance as Dr Jekyll, and is expected to then reprise the role in a Jeykll and Hyde film.

It has also been reported that that Johnny Depp will star in The Invisible Man, while Dwayne Johnson is rumoured to be in consideration to play The Wolfman. Universal have scheduled further films in the series for April 2018 and February 2019.