Who’s a popular vampire hunter? With one new incarnation of the character already in the works with Neil LaBute’s planned TV series, Universal is hoping that we’ll see more of Abraham Van Helsing on the big screen, too. The Thing’s Eric Heisserer and Prometheus’ Jon Spaihts have been hired to work on a Van Helsing reboot.
Spaihts, of course, is no newcomer to Universal’s expanding shared monster universe plan – he’s already been writing a draft of the latest Mummy film. But with Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan overseeing the various writers, Heisserer has been hired to work alongside him for a fresh look at the hunter.
The 2004 version saw Hugh Jackman as a more robust Van Helsing, battling various monsters. And though that Stephen Sommers-directed attempt didn’t spark a franchise, the studio clearly thinks that there’s life in him yet, especially as part of a network of characters that can interact.
In addition to his Mummy duties, Spaihts wrote Doctor Strange for Marvel and has seen his long-gestating sci-fi script Passengers go into production with Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt starring. Heisserer, meanwhile, also worked on Final Destination 5, wrote and directed Hours starring Paul Walker and has horror Lights Out and sci-fi Story Of Your Life on the way.