Given the popularity of superhero shared universes, studios are trying to snatch up properties in hopes of mimicking their box office success. So it is easy to see why some would dismiss one of the newest shared universes, Universal’s Classic Monsters universe.

Sure, Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy may be the beginning of a Universal Monsters shared universe with Dr. Jekyll (Russell Crowe) being the rumored thread that ties it all together, but producer Chris Morgan says upcoming remakes of The Wolfman, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, Van Helsing, Creature from the Black Lagoon, etc, won’t be anything like what’s being done over at Marvel Studios or WB’s DC Films. Check out what he had to say below.

The Universal Monsters shared film universe will kick off with the reboot of The Mummy, starring Tom Cruise. A second mystery monster movie due is due in April 2018, and now the studio has announced a third film that will be released in theaters in February 2019. More on the story below.

As the negativity surrounding Universal’s attempt at bringing back the story of The Wolf Man into theaters with last year’s clunker still exists, the studio has not been quiet about their next attempt to revive the franchise.

The company has announced that they have started production in Romania on a new project, a yet to be titled Werewolf thriller, with the plan in place to bring the film direct to DVD thanks to their DVD Originals line. It will hit “in time for Halloween 2012.”

We’ve been waiting a long time to find out who exactly would be playing Captain America in Joe Johnston‘s Marvel film, The First Avenger: Captain America. Thankfully the same mess doesn’t apply to other characters, including the movie’s villain, Red Skull.

It’s being reported that Hugo Weaving is currently in negotiations to star as the literally red-headed baddie in the movie. Red Skull was the right-hand man to ultimate real-life villain, Adolf Hitler, in the comics when he and Captain America first became enemies during World War II. This storyline also saw both characters end up in a suspended animation that would bring them to modern days, which is how Captain America will likely fit into the Avengers film. Depending on the dirty details of the contract, it’s probably not completely out of the question to think Weaving could return as one of the villains in The Avengers as well.

Last weekend was a really poor time for Universal Pictures to release their remake of The Wolfman (remember when it was originally scheduled for theatrical release on April 3, 2009?). It was up against the rom-com powerhouse chick flick Valentine’s Day on Valentine’s Day weekend and the adaptation of the popular children’s book Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Therefore, it’s not surprising that The Wolfman, directed by Joe Johnston, came in third at the box office with $35.5 million — not too terrible, but far below its $150 million budget.

So, there’s a chance you had to take your gal last weekend to Valentine’s Day or your kid to The Lightning Thief, instead of seeing The Wolfman and I’m here to tell you that if that’s the case, you’re missing out. Go this weekend! The film, starring Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, and Hugo Weaving, is a return to old-school horror where you’re chilled and frightened, as opposed to disgusted and mortified.

If you have seen The Wolfman, then, it’s time for SPOILER TALK! Below are some of my spoiler-filled thoughts on the film, and as always, remember to leave your thoughts about the movie here below in the Comments section.

Tonight was the big game, and to sum things up, booze and gumbo be flowin’ strong in the French Quarters of New Orleans tonight.

The obvious big draw of the Super Bowl is the game itself, but right behind that it the unveiling of some of the best commercials you’ll see. Recent years have been an incredible disappointment for the advertisement industries, and it has seemed like very few companies have anyone working for them with fresh and funny ideas. So would this year be the year when commercials rose back to their former glory, or would failure loom once again?

The short answer is no, no there was not any glory. The majority of this year’s commercials, like recent years, were utter garbage, and that’s just sad and honest truth. The only real bright spots of the year came from the always-popular Bud Lite ads, and Doritos made a strong showing themselves. There were a couple of decent ones scattered around in between these, but that’s about all there is to it. You can head over to SPIKE to check out all of the commercials!

Click on over for more, including videos of all of the movie and video game spots that aired!

A big press junket for The Wolfman was recently held in Los Angeles, but the prime objective of anyone who could get to director Joe Johnston was to find out whatever they could about his contribution to the Marvel world, The First Avenger: Captain America.

The movie isn’t set to be released until July 22, 2011, but with no sign of even the first casting announcement, folks are beginning to wonder what’s going on. Two massive Marvel movies are primed for release that summer — the other being Kenneth Branagh’s Thor, which bows May 6 — but Thor has all of its casting well in-hand, hence the question marks. These two movies are the final two pieces before 2012’s The Avengers begins its epic descent toward our eyes.

So what exactly did Johnston have to share about his movie and where things stand? Well — a lot, to be quite honest. Johnston touched on the type of gentleman he wants to cast in the all-important role and when we should meet this man, how he’s handling the tricky-but-iconic costume re-invention, and what other known characters or maybe even villains we could see showing up in the movie.

It’s been a long, dark road for the Universal Pictures re-imagining of their own classic monster icon in The Wolfman. Though many troubles were faced on this path, the movie is now only a couple of short weeks away from being unleashed upon us, and the studio is on the prowl to try and get folks truly excited.

Among the goodies being released this week, a couple of new posters and images are here to peek at. One of the posters is your basic movie one-sheet that you’ll see on walls and in movie theaters (that’s it here at right; click for larger view), while the other is a special limited edition poster from Basil Gogos that looks more like a homage to the ’40s monster than this new creation. Both posters are worth a glance if you’re into that sorta thing. As for images, there is quite a few making their rounds today — some of which you’ve probably seen, while others will be new. We’ve included a few of the new images below.

Head over to the other side to read a synopsis and witness the rest of these new images and posters.

Back in December, we found out that The Twilight Saga studio Summit Entertainment was developing another vampire movie about the original Dracula, Vlad the Impaler (Read: ‘Twilight’ Vamps Just Don’t Cut It; Summit Developing Dracula Movie). That movie is called Vlad, and it’s being produced based on a script by Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam, but we soon discovered that it wouldn’t have any type of vampire in it at all (Read: Check That: Summit Stays Faithful To ‘Twilight;’ Won’t Use Vampires In ‘Vlad’). Though the movie still seems like it could be really good, this was also sad news because a period film about the first vampire sounded pretty awesome.

Worry not, fans of the nocturnal feeders — with their resurrection of the old 1940s monster movies set to materialize with The Wolfman, Universal Pictures isn’t stopping there. Latino Review first got the scoop that the studio has to decided to go ahead and make that Dracula period movie WITH vampires called Dracula: Year Zero, and it looks like Avatar and Terminator Salvation star Sam Worthington will play the main man with a thirst for blood.

If you haven’t seen anything from Joe Johnston‘s (Jumanji, Hidalgo) The Wolfman, then you are missing out big time. A remake of the classic monster movie from 1941, the movie looks like it keeps a lot of that old school charm while utilizing today’s technological advancements to bring some fantastic tones and realism to the party.

Most second trailers have a nasty habit of using almost the entirety of their initial first trailer, with a few small new bits sprinkled in from time-to-time. This new Wolfman trailer is having none of that, they make sure that you get your money’s worth before you even have to pay for anything with a trailer composed of almost all new images and clips that we haven’t seen yet. Another thing the trailer does is use modern music to a period setting with some guitar melodies accompanying the old Victorian setting — always a cool little mix.

Click over for a full, detailed new synopsis and to watch the trailer, which was released via Apple.