James Wan is reportedly in talks for a remake of The Creature From The Black Lagoon.
The horror movie icon, who is known for his work on the likes of the Saw and Conjuring franchises, appears set to helm a reboot of the 1954 classic.
As reported by Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, Wan will serve as a producer on the movie and is in “early talks” to direct the monster flick.
It would be the first project that he’s attached to direct since his production company Atomic Monster merged with Blumhouse.
The original Creature From The Black Lagoon focused on a prehistoric water-breathing humanoid monster, along with a group of scientists trying to study him.
Julie Adams starred alongside Richard Carlson as the woman who caught the Gill-Man’s eye, while Jack Arnold was the director for the classic black and white feature.
The likes of John Carpenter, Ivan Reitman, Guillermo del Toro and more have all tried to revive The Creature from the 80s onwards, with Universal also looking at the idea as part of its Dark Universe monster movies in the 2010s.
Will Beall wrote a script, but the franchise idea imploded with the studio instead turning to a filmmaker-focused approach.
This has resulted in stand-alone movies like The Invisible Man, Renfield, and a remake of Wolf Man that’s in the pipeline.
For Wan’s take on The Creature From The Black Lagoon, it’s believed he will pursue a grounded and modernised retelling which will learn into visceral horror, while still paying respect to the classic.
Atomic Monster and Blumhouse, which has a first look deal with Universal, have already collaborated on Night Swim earlier this year, while the studios are also producing a sequel to M3GAN due out in 2025, and a spinoff called SOULM8TE planned for the following year.