‘Van Helsing’ Reboot Takes Inspiration from George Miller’s ‘Mad Max’ Franchise; Universal’s Monster Universe Aims for Diversity

‘Van Helsing’ is planned reboot that will take inspiration from George Miller’s ‘Mad Max’ franchise. Universal’s monster universe aims to diversify its films and will not be implementing one single, consistent tonal style.

According to the AV Club, the latest Van Helsing film will be set apart from previous adaptations on the big screen with inspiration drawn from George Miller’s iconic ‘Mad Max’ franchise. Although the planned reboot is still in early developments, writers Jon Spaihts and Eric Heisserer are already throwing ideas around.

During an interview with Hit Fix, Heisserer teased that their version of Van Helsing was reminiscent of Mad Max. He said, “I can only say that early on, our inspiration for his behavior and his mannerisms was all in Mad Max.”

Although the film is part of the Universal Monster Universe, Heisserer stressed that the film will not follow a consistent tonal style with the others in the franchise. He said, “It’s early days right now… I can say that the decision that a lot of us made was to go and just write the best movie we could in our own corner and make sure it's good on its own... and didn't necessarily need to link arm-in arm-with anybody else. And to be tonally different from the other films.”

He added, “One may be a little bit more comedic, action-adventure-y, one can be very much a traditional horror piece. That kind of thing. And then we'll see what happens as the projects evolve and we all get a chance to convene and talk, and make sure the movies feel like they're all in the same world.”

Abraham Van Helsing is a character from the original gothic horror novel ‘Dracula’ authored by Bram Stoker and published in 1897. He is best known as a vampire hunter and Dracula’s most lethal enemy. The character was adapted on various media throughout the years – most notably in the 2004 action-horror film ‘Van Helsing’, which starred Hugh Jackman in the lead role.

The film was written and directed by Stephen Sommers and received mostly negative reviews. Despite this, it grossed $300.26 million worldwide against a budget of $160 million, according to Box Office Mojo. It was an homage to Universal’s horror monster films from the 1930s and included Count Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster as well as werewolves.

‘Van Helsing’ is a planned reboot of Universal’s dark fantasy-horror film to be written by Jon Spaihts and Eric Heisserer. It joins other reboots in Universal’s shared monster universe of films together with ‘The Mummy’, ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Invisible Man’, and ‘Wolf Man’.