In a world filled with a vast sea of talent, it becomes important to differentiate and substantiate yourself to become a known individual, which is exactly what filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro has achieved with his creations in the film industry, which was a huge factor that led him to the top of the Hollywood industry as one of the biggest directors in the business.
And while he may have achieved the success that he sought and deserved, just like many others in the world, he possesses some regrets that were a result of either his decisions or the lack of them. One of the biggest of them all, according to himself, was when he did not collaborate with Hollywood megastar Tom Cruise on his monster universe, which had the potential to go up against the MCU.
Guillermo Del Toro Regrets Not Working With Tom Cruise On The Dark Universe
Rightfully called one of the most prolific directors of his time, Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro is known for his versatility and his unique yet awe-inspiring storytelling skills. And throughout his career in the Hollywood industry, he has proven time and time again why he deserved every single Academy Award he has won. But still, there are times when he regrets his decision to not do something that could’ve pushed his legacy even higher than it is today, one of them being the decision to not accept the offer to create the Dark Universe with Tom Cruise.
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In a past interview, the Hellboy director revealed that he was given the chance to design and execute the planned Dark Universe by Universal Studios, which would’ve had all the bigshot names from the industry such as the Top Gun star, Johnny Depp, and Javier Bardem to name a few. But since he was more comfortable with standalone flicks and less ambitious projects he declined the offer. And when the first film of the franchise, which was Cruise’s The Mummy came out and tanked, he regretted not signing up and saving the franchise from ruin. He said:
“I’ve said no to things that are enormous and I’ve never looked back. The only time I repent I didn’t do something was in 2007 when Universal, in an incredibly gentle and beautiful manner said, ‘do you want to take over the Monster Universe?’ And they gave me the reins of several properties, and I didn’t do it. That I repent. So this is a confessional moment, I repent. That’s the only thing.”
It’s still a shame that the franchise never took off, because if Del Toro had taken the helm of the projects, along with Cruise being one of the integral parts of the cinematic universe, it could’ve proved challenging for even the hyper-successful MCU.
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Why Did The Dark Universe Fail?
Apart from the flop that was Tom Cruise’s 2017 starrer The Mummy, the entire execution of the franchise was a little lacking from the get-go. Taking an example of the MCU, the characters that would end up making the franchise in the future were introduced to the audience without any indication of anything related to these films. On the other hand, to make a big impact with big names from the industry, the execution of each character and the story was never really given much thought than just progressing the narrative further.
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The Mummy, is available on Apple TV+.
Source: New York Times Events
