James Wan in Talks to Direct ‘Creature From the Black Lagoon’ Remake

The Creature From the Black Lagoon is rising once again.

James Wan, the creator of the Saw and The Conjuring horror franchises, is developing a new take on the classic Universal monster property and is in early talks to direct the feature project.

The move comes as Wan and his collaborators presented Universal with a pitch to remake the 1954 monster classic. A writer will now be hired to write a script, working in concert with Wan.

This is the first project Wan has attached himself to as a director following his company’s production banner, Atomic Monster, merging with Blumhouse. Wan was under water for the last few years on DC superhero movie Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and has been looking to get back to his horror roots in some way.

Wan will act as a producer on Creature, while Atomic Monster’s Michael Clear and Judson Scott serve as executive producers.

The black and white movie, made in the gimmicky and popular 3D format, told of a prehistoric water-breathing humanoid monster and the group of scientists that want to study him. It was the among the last of the Universal’s great monster movies, combining an entrancing mix of horror, tragedy, and romance, and introduced audiences to the unique Gill-Man, aka The Creature who is the last of his kind.

Jack Arnold, who helmed sci-fi classics such as The Incredible Shrinking Man, directed the movie that featured Julie Adams as the woman who caught the Creature’s eye.

Hollywood has tried to bring back Creature since the 1980s, when John Landis tried to produce an iteration, while John Carpenter and even Ivan Reitman developed takes in the 1990s. Gary Ross took it on in the 2000s, intent on following in his father’s footsteps — Arthur A. Ross co-wrote the script — as did Breck Eisner.

More recently, the character was to have been part of Universal’s Dark Universe monster movies in the 2010s, with Will Beall writing the installment. The Dark Universe initiative eventually imploded as the studio focused on a more filmmaker-centric approach.

Wan’s take is described as being a grounded, modernized retelling that will lean into visceral horror, while still paying respect to the original. 

Executive vp production development Jay Polidoro will oversee the project for Universal.

Atomic Monster, with Blumhouse, produced thriller Night Swim earlier this year and is working on a sequel to horror hit M3GAN, due out in 2025, and a spinoff, SOULM8TE, due out in 2026.

Wan is repped by CAA, Stacey Testro International and Myman Greenspan Fox.