I Bet You Didn’t Know You Needed A Frankenstein Prequel

Oh Hollywood, you make it so hard to love you. You and your obsession with remakes and, even worse, prequels*. The latest unnecessary bit of backstory comes in the form of This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein, which tells the early story of the doctor who would go on to make that famous monster.

The movie will be based on an upcoming novel (the first in a series, of course. Why just write a book and make it good when you can milk readers for a dozen installments?) by Kenneth Oppel. Deadline describes the story thusly:

In the Oppel novel, Frankenstein’s twin Konrad is gravely ill. His brother seeks out a mysterious old alchemist to help him produce the Elixir of Life, a serum that will bestow the gift of perpetual health. You can’t order this drink at a pub, and Frankenstein sets out on a dangerous adventure to find the elusive contents. He’s accompanied by his best friend Elizabeth, who is sweet on Konrad. Things get complicated among the three of them.

I hope there’s a character in the book who ends up being the Monster. That would be so rad.

Matt Reeves is attached to direct, making this his third possible project. You remember Matt from the almost shot-for-shot remake Let Me In; he’s also attached to 8 O’Clock In The Morning, which is the ‘We swear it’s not a remake’ of They Live, as well as The Passage, an apocalyptic vampire tale, which is based on a novel.

* I note the irony of me saying this the day after I blew a load on X-Men: First Class.