Writing teams, it would appear, are the new big idea for shared universe films, given the successes of Marvel’s creative board for its movies and the auspicious work of Disney Animation/Pixar's “brain trusts”. Universal wants in on that action, hiring Prisoners’ Aaron Guzikowski and Fargo TV adaptation man Noah Hawley to work on its monster movie films{
They join Ed Solomon, who will be working alongside chief creative bods Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan on developing a linked series bringing classic Universal creatures such as The Mummy and** The Wolfman** back to life on screen.
The plan is for the writers to work together developing the movies, pitching in ideas and helping with problems before splitting off to write the scripts separately, and then meeting back up to discuss them. Kurtzman, the Star Trek/Transformers veteran, is already at work on the Mummy film, which he’ll also direct for June 24, 2016. Guzikowski, who also worked on Contraband, is apparently tasked with writing a new** Wolfman**. There’s no specific date for the film yet, though Universal has staked out April 21, 2017 for the second entry in the new rebooted series, so that’s a likely slot.
Hawley, who successfully brought Fargo to small screens this year, has a mostly TV-based CV with shows including Bones and The Unusuals in his back catalogue, though his experience with telly (alongside Kurtzman’s training) should help him fit in easily. As for Solomon, he’s been behind movies such as Men In Black, Charlie’s Angels and Now You See Me.