Senior Film and Media Reporter

“Aquaman” director James Wan is returning to the sea for his next feature. He’s developing a remake of “Creature From the Black Lagoon” and is in early talks to direct for Universal Pictures.

The project is described as a "grounded, modernized retelling that leans toward visceral horror while paying respect to the original classic." It's been 70 years since "Creature From the Black Lagoon" first hit the big screen in the 1954 film adaptation directed by Jack Arnold and starring Richard Carlson and Julia Adams. Over the years, several directors, including Guillermo del Toro, have attempted to reboot the black-and-white monster film about a group of scientists who encounter a prehistoric monster in the waters of the Amazon, but none have gotten off the ground.

“Creature From the Black Lagoon” is Universal’s latest attempt to mine its vast catalog of classic monsters for theaters. After the studio’s experiment with a monster-verse failed with Tom Cruise’s blockbuster “The Mummy,” it opted to focus on standalone films instead of an interconnected Dark Universe. So far, the results have been mixed. Universal enjoyed critical and commercial success with 2020’s “The Invisible Man,” starring Elisabeth Moss, which grossed $143 million worldwide on a $7 million budget. However, “Renfield,” starring Nicholas Hoult as Dracula’s deranged henchman, was a major failure, earning $26 million worldwide. A remake of “Wolf Man,” starring Christopher Abbott, is currently in the works for the studio.