Originally conceived as a shared cinematic universe that was officially titled the Dark Universe, with multiple crossovers and inter-connectivity between films, the label is now used colloquially by some media outlets to refer to Universal Pictures' rebooted franchises. Conceptualized as a shared universe, the studio had announced the projects in development with a press release announcing the intellectual property's title, a trailer, casting announcements, and official theme music composed by Danny Elfman. Casting included: Russell Crowe as Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde, Javier Bardem as the Frankenstein's Monster, and Johnny Depp as The Invisible Man. They joined Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella, as Nick Morton and Princess Ahmanet / The Mummy. Additional rebooted adaptations of characters was also announced, including: Van Helsing, the Wolf Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Phantom of the Opera, Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde, and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan were announced as co-runners of the Dark Universe, with collaborations from David Koepp and Christopher McQuarrie.
After mixed critical reception to the first two installments, Universal halted development on further projects, while their plans for future releases was reassessed. Despite this, in May 2018 artist Robert Vargas announced from his social media account that he had attended a meeting with the studio and would collaborate on the Dark Universe character designs moving forward. During this period of time, Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan left their roles as co-architects of the franchise, while successful horror film producer Jason Blum had at various times publicly expressed his interest in reviving and working on future installments within the Dark Universe franchise. By January 2019, the studio announced plans to develop individualized films, with standalone installments. - Wikipedia