Universal Monsters
The Universal Monsters is a media franchise comprising various horror film series distributed by Universal Pictures. It consists of different horror creature characters originating from various novels, such as Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde, the Phantom of the Opera, Count Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Mummy, and the Invisible Man, as well as original characters the Wolf Man and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
The original series began with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and ended with The Creature Walks Among Us. While the early installments were initially created as stand-alone films based on published novels, their financial and critical success resulted in various cross-over releases between the monsters, as well as other properties such as Abbott and Costello. Following the positive response to various viewings of these films via television redistribution which began airing in the 1950s, the studio began developing the characters for other media. In the 1990s, it became priority for Universal to promote their catalogue with official packaging that presented films with the official franchise title. Through a number of VHS editions, their popularity continued into contemporary entertainment. This included additional development through modern-filmmaking adaptations, beginning with Dracula and most recently Wolf Man.
Modern analyses describe the titular characters as "pop culture icons", while the franchise as a whole is often cited as the prototypical example of the shared universe concept in film. In addition to the films, the franchise has expanded to include novels, comics, and theme park rides.
History
Universal's early horror films were adaptations of work from familiar authors and texts to give their films a prestige appeal. These included Dracula, whose success led to the production of other works such as Frankenstein. Frankensteins ending was changed by studio head Carl Laemmle Jr., who wanted Universal to be able deploy key characters from the film into subsequent Universal productions. Following the release of other Universal films such as The Mummy, The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein, there was a dry spell of horror films. Universal only returned to the style following a successful theatrical re-release of Dracula and Frankenstein. The renewed interest in horror films led to new works, starting with Son of Frankenstein.Universal would only introduce a few new monsters in the 1940s, with the most famous being Lon Chaney Jr. as The Wolf Man in The Wolf Man. The decade had Universal's horror output include many remakes and sequels, with films often directly reusing old sets, footage, and narratives to replicate moments in their earlier horror productions.
Universal's first transmedia properties appeared in the 1940s and the 1950s with the films Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. In these films, the monsters from the studio's earlier films "team up" against various characters. Author Megan De Bruin-Molé suggested that the Universal Classic Monsters films exist as a loose mash-up, which allowed for Dracula to exist and be watched separately from Frankenstein but allowed their characters to be systemically and consistently brought together and developed in other films and media. These productions made were often crossovers and sequels, such as Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula and several occurrences in comedy films of Abbott and Costello meeting the monsters. These meetings started with Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and ended with Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy. De Bruin-Molé wrote that this approach from Universal was for commercial marketing terms, as it would establish the company as the "real" home of horror. Their films contained a world where potentially all monsters may dwell. The sole new monster films that Universal produced in the 1950s were the Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Mummy, the latter as a co-production with the British Hammer Film Productions.
Towards the 1960s, the Universal monsters grew beyond film and became more consistently transmedial. Initially, this began in 1957 when Universal struck a ten-year television deal with Screen Gems to distribute 52 of their own titles. These television screenings and the films being included on Mel Jass' Mel's Matinee Movie would also prove to be popular. Stephen Sommers, director of The Mummy, stated that his introduction to the series was on Jass's program. Universal became part of the Music Corporation of America in 1962. By 1964, Universal Studios tours would eventually include appearances from Frankenstein's monster. Several products based on the characters from Universal's film series were released, ranging from plastic model kits, Halloween masks, figures, plush dolls, toys, drinking glasses, coloring books and postage stamps. While some of these objects bear similarity to the actors who portray them, others are more generic interpretations. Other mediums featured the Universal monsters in tandem, such as Bobby "Boris" Pickett's 1962 popular song "Monster Mash" and the television series The Munsters which was based on the likeness of the Universal characters.
In 1990, Universal was part of a merger between Matsushita, now known as Panasonic, and several other corporations. Between 1991 and 1994, Universal released VHS home video editions from their catalogue of horror films. This was the first time these films were packed together as the "Classic Monster" line, accompanied with a newly designed logo. Prior to this home video series, the Universal films that featured multiple monsters were called "Super-Shocker" or "monster rallies". Louis Feol, the head of Worldwide Home Video for Universal Studios, said that the most important thing was the packaging of their sales. He added that it was "probably our single biggest priority and has been for a number of years", and that it was key to make the series of films "look like a line". In a 1999 interview, Feol stated that creating the series was to "reinvigorate and re-market" the Universal catalog, specifically with their series of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Phantom of the Opera, The Wolf Man, and The Mummy.
The 1990s also saw a trend in the merchandising of Universal Monsters material as part of a trend for the decade of recycling and reinventing old material from the past. This led to the release of Stephen Sommer's The Mummy and a "monster rally"-styled film with Van Helsing. Merchandizing of the characters in formats such as clothing and board games has continued into the 21st century. The franchise is featured in the Dark Universe portion of Universal Orlando theme park, Universal Epic Universe, which opened on May 22, 2025.
Beginning in October 2013, Universal hired Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman to collaborate in developing a relaunch of the Universal Monsters characters as a new shared universe of films similar in fashion to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, notably a franchise which includes interconnectivity that originated previously in the classic Universal Monsters films. By July 2014, the studio officially hired Chris Morgan to replace Orci and work alongside Kurtzman in overseeing development of an interconnected series of films based around rebooted versions of the Universal Monster characters. The duo was tasked with creating the overall outline for the titular monsters. The development of a cinematic universe continued as Kurtzman and Morgan became involved with additional photography for Dracula Untold ; reshoots positioned the final scenes of the film in modern-day, in order to connect with other films and to allow the cast to reprise their roles in future installments. The film's connections to the new franchise were later downplayed following its mixed critical and financial reception, with The Mummy repositioned as the official start of the shared film universe. In May 2017, the slate of reimagined incarnations of titular monsters was officially titled Dark Universe. The studio announced the franchise with a press release, which debuted the official logo, website, trailer, and score. Universal Pictures, in collaboration with Kurtzman and Morgan, created a writer's room consisting of various contributors to create stories that were to be expanded into scripts, which were intended to be rooted in horror as opposed to the action adventure nature of the studio's previous remakes. The Mummy introduced its ancient titular monster, alongside the heroic character portrayed by Tom Cruise whose adventures as a monster were intended to expand upon in later installments. Prior to the film's release, additional cast officially joined the franchise as announced by Universal Pictures. The studio revealed a [|slate of films], but following the poor critical reception and underwhelming box office performance of The Mummy, Universal cancelled pre-production that had begun on Bride of Frankenstein which was to be the next film in the franchise, and postponed all plans for the Dark Universe slate of films.
In January 2018, the production studio began reconfiguring their approach to the Universal Monsters, and following the departures of Kurtzman and Morgan from their roles as co-architects of the franchise, the studio decided to abandon a shared cinematic universe in favor of returning to standalone adaptations of the characters instead. After previously expressing interest in working with Universal Pictures on relaunching the characters for modern audiences, Jason Blum officially signed on to collaborate on a number of the projects in development. The producer later stated in 2020 that control of the Dark Universe and the Universal Monsters remains under the direction of Universal Pictures.