Is Dracula Untold a Part of the Shared Monsters Universe?

"It’s optional for them if they want to use it as that launching pad," says the director.

By Daniel Krupa

The director of Dracula Untold has revealed that it's possible for the film to be incorporated into the shared Monsters Universe, currently being developed by Universal Pictures.

The film's director, Gary Shore, told IGN that while potential sequels were discussed ahead of shooting the film, the notion of a shared universe for all of Universal's classic Monsters wasn't on the radar.

"The monster universe thing evolved later on," says Shore. "So the film doesn’t really adhere to those rules. It isn’t really tied into that. I don’t want to give away what happens in the film. It’s optional for them if they want to use it as that launching pad."

Shore went on to speak about the project and what Universal is undertaking.

"The challenge that faces the studio is taking several antiheroes, and creating a story that doesn’t repeat itself. Doing one antihero is a tough enough story to get right, but when you look at the Marvel Universe, each one of those are heroes in their own right; they have certain flaws that make them interesting, but they don't start out as anti-heroes...

"I think they certainly have a challenge ahead to create that architecture. I have no doubt they’ll do it though."

When asked if any of the other classic monsters intrigued him, Shore said, “I always thought the Invisible Man had quite a lot of potential. I’ve never really thought about them as an exercise as where to go to next. But we’ll see…”

Back in July, we reported that Universal was developing a shared universe for all of its classic monsters, in a similar manner to what Disney has achieved with Marvel's Cinematic Universe. The project would be overseen by Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan.

Supposedly, the first instalment of this project was Kurtzman's new version of The Mummy, which is slated for release on April 22, 2016. But depending on its success and popularity, it appears Dracula Untold may have already beaten it to that claim.

Dracula Untold is out in theatres in Australia now, in UK on October 3rd, and in the US on October 10th.

Daniel is IGN's Games Editor over in London. He grew up watching Universal's monster movies. You can be part of the world's most embarrassing cult by following him on IGN and Twitter.