Frankenstein’s monster has made a decision. Shawn Levy baaad! Paul McGuigan gooood! Okay, so the Real Steel filmmaker hasn’t been chased away with flaming torches, but he is no longer attached to direct Fox’s new take on Mary Shelley’s classic horror tale. Now McGuigan is in final negotiations for Frankenstein.

Though Levy had been actively interested in the idea, going so far as to talk up his vision for the film, McGuigan will now be the one bringing it to life.

Chronicle writer and Twitter troublemaker Max Landis is behind the script, which attempts to merge Shelley’s original tale with the ever-expanding Franken-universe via a tale told from the point of view of Igor. Who, incidentally, has not been represented in the mythos quite as much as we think.

The main reason for the switch at the top appears to be timing: Fox is eager to get this one moving before competing Frankenstein films can lumber out of the development castle. I, Frankenstein is already in the lead, with Aaron Eckhart playing a very different version of the creature in a film set to arrive next February.

McGuigan, who last made Push for the big screen, has gained much more leverage thanks to his work on the BBC's Sherlock. We're interested to see what he'll do with this one.