Creature From the Black Lagoon Is in Remake Talks Again With James Wan Floated as Director

Creature From the Black Lagoon is once again up for remake discussion, this time with The Conjuring and Saw creator James Wan being floated as a potential director.

IGN can confirm a report today from The Hollywood Reporter, which states that Wan and collaborators at his production company Atomic Monster under Blumhouse, pitched Universal on a remake. Currently, the project is looking for a scriptwriter. Atomic Monster's Michael Clear and Judson Scott will executive produce. Executive VP of production development at Universal Jay Polidoro will oversee the production.

Creature From the Black Lagoon is a 1954 black-and-white 3D monster film about scientists who discover a prehistoric amphibious monster known as the Gill-Man and attempt to study it to predictably disasterous results. Per a press briefing, Wan's Creature From the Black Lagoon will be a "grounded modernized retelling that leans into visceral horror whilst paying respect to the original classic."

There have been numerous attempts to remake or reboot the film since the 80s, including a recent attempt to bring the story into Universal's Dark Universe. However, that version of the film was beset by troubles as Dark Universe's main writer-producers, Chris Morgan and Alex Kurtzman, departed the project and the Dark Universe remake of The Mummy debuted as a commercial failure. Universal eventually canceled the outstanding projects, saying it would be "reconfiguring" the Dark Universe, but said reconfiguration has yet to occur.

James Wan is the acclaimed Australian filmmaker behind horror series including Saw and The Conjuring. He also served as director on DC's Aquaman and most recently was a producer on Night Swim. His production company, Atomic Monsters, merged with Blumhouse Productions earlier this year though both sides of the deal have stated they will continue to act as separate labels post-merger. Wan was also a producer on Stephen King's The Monkey, which is headed to theatres in February of 2025 and got a new teaser trailer just today.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

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