Having already adapted The Invisible Man in 2020, writer/director Leigh Whannell is poised to unleash Wolf Man next January, which will reinvent yet another classic Universal monster for a new generation of moviegoers. Following that, his slate is clear, at least when it comes to updating vintage horror movies. However, that’s not to say Whannell doesn’t have his eye on another of Universal’s beloved characters, as he recently revealed that he’d love to take a crack at Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Speaking to Screen Rant this past weekend at New York Comic Con, Whannell wasn’t shy about expressing his desire to tackle Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novel, which was brought to life by Universal in 1913, and starred King Baggot as the titular doctor with a penchant for self-experimentation. It’s a book he’s loved since he was a kid, and for Whannell, getting the chance to tell the story in a modern setting would be a dream come true. There’s just one problem: he has no idea what that looks like right now.
“I’ve always thought Jekyll and Hyde. That book, when I was a kid, really creeped me out, the concept of it. Of all the monsters, that one used to really stay with me. There’s something about the hero and the villain being the same person. I think it would be a really good modern version of Jekyll and Hyde. I don’t know exactly what it would be.”
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Could Go Any Number of Directions
Perhaps the most underappreciated of all of Universal’s monsters, the duo of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have thus far only made a few appearances in the company’s history, with the first being in the aforementioned 1913 film, and again in 1953’s Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They were dormant until 2017’s The Mummy, when they were brought back to life with Russell Crowe portraying both alter egos in the now defunct Dark Universe.
Given the success Whannell had with The Invisible Man, and the surefire hit Wolf Man will undoubtedly become (have you seen that awesome trailer?), it makes sense for him to want to continue down this path of exploring more monsters from Universal’s catalog, and we can’t think of anyone better for him to adapt next than Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. While he has yet to nail down a concept, there are any number of directions a new film could go. Perhaps he could incorporate a true crime aspect, since that’s been all the rage these days, with Jekyll telling his story to a documentary crew. Or maybe the good doctor could be trying his best to cure his wife’s terminal ailment by turning her into someone free of disease, only to unleash the monster within himself that’s mad at the world for her becoming sick.
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Movies, Ranked
The Jekyll and Hyde story has been a motif throughout movie history, and its study of human duality and inherent evil was mastered in these films.
Either way, though the Dark Universe may be officially dead in the water, we’re glad Whannell and Blumhouse decided to start down this path of breathing new life into Universal’s old IP. The results have been stellar so far, and who knows? Maybe we could eventually get some sort of crossover reminiscent of 1945’s House of Dracula, which would bring all these characters together in one place for the ultimate monster mash-up.