Studios have tried building universes around hopeful franchises. At this point in time many have failed. The only ones that have found success are the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) and the MonsterVerse (Godzilla, King Kong). After the success of the MCU, every studio has wanted their own version. Here are the ones that did not make it off the ground or stumbled off the ground.

DCEU

The DCEU (DC Extended Universe) was the only other universe that was supposed to succeed. When it started, most people believed it would be around for a long time. Well, that was not the case. The DCEU is getting a reboot and will become the DCU (DC Universe) run by James Gunn and Peter Safran. The DCU will be one cohesive universe amongst film, television, animation, and video games. Properties that are not related to the DCU like the Joker sequel and The Batman will fall under the DC Banner DC Elseworlds. The DCEU technically launched with Man of Steel, however it was not entirely known that was supposed to be the kick off, therefore the official kick off was technically Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The movie was a hit financially but hated by critics and fans. Then Suicide Squad came out and did well financially and had a hit soundtrack but was hated by critics and fans. Wonder Woman came out and was a big hit and was loved by critics and fans. Then Justice League happened and everything went down hill from there. There were some highlights. Aquaman did very well financially even hitting a billion worldwide. Shazam! found success and was liked. Whereas Marvel found success having a cinematic universe, the DCEU never quite got there. There were a lot of hits and misses. There was never really a goal in sight. Even the big bad that was meant for the Justice League films was cut out of the theatrical cut of the film. Darkside was only seen in the Zack Snyder cut. While the DCEU is dead, may the DCU have a bright future ahead.

The Dark Universe

The Dark Universe was supposed to be the other monster verse with Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein, The Mummy, etc. It was only called the Dark Universe because the MonsterVerse name was already taken by the Godzilla and King Kong movies. Whereas the DCEU had multiple films before it evidently collapsed, the Dark Universe only had one film. The Mummy starred Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella and came out in 2007. It made 80 million domestically and 409 million worldwide. After that, the other films in development were pulled. At the time it was announced that Javier Bardem would play Frankenstein’s Monster, Johnny Dep was the Invisible Man, Sofia Boutella was the Mummy, Tom Cruise would return as soldier Nick Morton, and Russell Crowe was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There were also rumors of Dwayne Johnson being in the running for the Wolfman. The Mummy even set up the plans for the world by having Russell Crowe in the movie. Presumably Russell Crowe would have appeared in the other monster movies. It seemed like he would be the Nick Fury of the Dark Universe. The other movie that was deep in development was The Bride of Frankenstein. It had Bill Condon attached to direct. He directed the smash hit live version of Beauty and the Beast for Disney. It would star Angelina Jolie as the Bride of Frankenstein and Javier Bardem as Frankenstein’s Monster. It was set for release in February 2019. After the Mummy came out, the movie got delayed for the script to be reworked. Eventually the movie never materialized. There were even plans for the Creature of the Black Lagoon, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Phantom of the Opera to be part of the Dark Universe. Of course, there were plans for Van Helsing as well. Rumors were that Channing Tatum was in the running. The Dark Universe had a logo pictured above that debuted with The Mummy. It even had a cast photo with Tom Cruise, Javier Bardem, Johnny Depp, Sofia Boutella, and Russell Crowe pictured below. Shortly after The Mummy came out, plans for the Dark Universe died. The Invisible Man came out in 2020 and was a smaller solo movie with Elizabeth Moss from Blumhouse Productions. The film did well at the box office. Universal also announced plans for the monster movies to be their own films.

Lego Movie Universe

This never had an official title. However, after the success of The LEGO Movie there were plans for multiple LEGO films. All the films were supposed to be set in the same universe. The LEGO Batman Movie came out and was a hit but made less than The LEGO Movie. The LEGO Ninjago Movie did not do well. The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part finally came out five years after the first one and did not do as well as the first one. It seemed audiences lost interest in it. There were plans for a LEGO Batman 2 as well as another LEGO movie The Billion Brick Race. Both films have not happened. The Billion Brick Race was going to be a LEGO racing movie. The LEGO Batman Movie sequel was going to be a LEGO Superfriends Movie. Universal made a deal with LEGO to distribute future projects. A sequel to LEGO Batman will probably not happen given the fact that Batman and the DC characters are under Warner Brothers. The last update that was given in regard to the LEGO franchise was near the end of 2022. It was said by Dan Lin one of the producers of the films that Universal is actively developing LEGO Movie 3 and they are reinventing it. We will have to wait and see if that ends up happening and if so, will anyone care? It seems interest in this franchise has significantly dropped.

King Arthur Universe

To be honest I didn’t even remember this one until I did some research and read about it. I remember this being the plan at the time this film came out which was 2017. Although thinking back on it, I think I thought it said the plan was for six sequels at the time. Now reading there were plans for a universe seems ridiculous and forced. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was planned to set up a world. After doing further research it said that future films would have been solo movies on other characters eventually leading up to a team up movie against one villain. Pretty much it was looking to do their own Avengers movie. This movie starred Charlie Hunnam as King Arthur and Jude Law who played the villain and was a villain in the MCU. Out of the worlds listed, this is the only one I have not seen. After reading about it, I am intrigued to see it for myself. I have seen some of the LEGO movies and I did see The Mummy. I have seen some of the DCEU films as well.

There have been a lot of disappointments and some successes. Besides the MCU and the MonsterVerse, the Conjuring Universe has been successful. There could still be hope for some of these, well except for King Arthur. I don’t see that functioning as a world.