While producer/writer/director Alex Kurtzman was at the CBS portion of the TCA Press Tour for his latest TV venture Scorpion, it provided an opportunity to catch up with him about some of the projects he currently has in various stages of development in the film world.

During an interview with Collider and a couple of other outlets, talk went to the building of a Monster Universe with the classic movie monsters, which he’s kicking off with The Mummy, that he’d be honored if Guillermo del Toro wanted to get involved with Frankenstein, once they get to that stage, his big picture view of the Monster Universe, and how some monsters will get their own movie while others are supporting characters in other monster movies.  He also talked about where things are at with The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and that they’re just trying to figure things out, at this stage, working with Drew Goddard on Sinister Six, and his plans to direct Venom after that.  And of course, no conversation with Kurtzman would be complete without an update on the feature film of Locke & Key.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Though there are a number of projects that filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has been attached to over the years, one of the biggest and most promising is Frankenstein.  Mary Shelley’s novel is del Toro’s favorite book of all time, and he’s been very vocal about his passion for adapting the material.  He’s spoken of plans to have Doug Jones fill the Monster role and there have been various updates every now and then, but del Toro has been so busy with other projects (At the Mountains of Madness, The Hobbit, Pacific Rim, etc.) that Frankenstein hasn’t yet come to pass.

Steve recently took part in an extremely lengthy and candid interview with del Toro on the set of his next film, Crimson Peak, and del Toro touched on his planned Frankenstein adaptation, revealing that Universal Pictures chairperson Donna Langley has approached him a few times about getting it going.  Del Toro says he hasn’t made it yet because he’s “a chicken shit,” but added that when he does do Frankenstein (and also hopefully Bride of Frankenstein), he’ll drop everything else for three years to focus entirely on the monster pic.  Hit the jump for more, including del Toro’s thoughts on how he would tackle a new Universal Monster Movie Universe.

Even though we won’t be seeing these movies for a while, we now have the first official synopses for Victor Frankenstein (formerly just “Frankenstein“), Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Gods of Egypt, and Untitled Pets Project.  Briefly:

• Victor Frankenstein is directed by Paul McGuigan (Sherlock) and stars James McAvoy as the title character and Daniel Radcliffe as Igor.
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is directed by Tim Burton and based on the book by Ransom Riggs.
• Gods of Egypt is directed by Alex Proyas and stars Gerard Butler, Geoffrey Rush, Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Elodie Yung.
• Untitled Pets Project is an animated family film that will feature the voices of Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, and Kevin Hart.

Hit the jump for the synopses on these movies.  Also, the Gods of Egypt image we’ve using is not from the studio, it’s the Price of Egypt poster with the title Gods of Egypt.

With the dark comedy Filth set to arrive in theaters tomorrow, I recently got to interview the film’s star, James McAvoy.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the movie, it’s about a corrupt cop (McAvoy) who is angling for a promotion in order to win back his estranged family.  The terrific cast also includes Jamie Bell, Eddie Marsan, Imogen Poots, and Jim Broadbent.

During our exclusive phone interview, McAvoy talked about what interested him in the character, the atmosphere on set, playing off his co-stars, and the freedom of an independent movie versus a studio picture.  We also talked about his upcoming films X-Men: Apocalypse, Frankenstein, and more.  Hit the jump to check out the interview.  Filth is now available on VOD, and opens tomorrow in limited release.

20th Century Fox announced a bunch of release dates tonight:

• The Fantastic Four reboot is still casting for a 2015 release, but Fox is ready to plan The Fantastic Four 2 for July 14, 2017.
• The sequel to The Wolverine hits theaters March 3, 2017. [Update: Deadline reports that Fox has set David James Kelly to pen the sequel, which returns James Mangold to the helm with Hugh Jackman starring.]
• An untitled Marvel film is scheduled for July 13, 2018.
• Liam Neeson returns for Taken 3 on January 9, 2015.
• An unspecified Ridley Scott feature is dated for March 4, 2016.
• Matthew Vaughn‘s The Secret Service (now October 24, 2014) and an untitled Vince Vaughn vehicle (now March 6, 2015) switched release dates.
• Frankenstein starring Daniel Radcliffe is pushed back from January 16, 2015 to October 2, 2015.

More on the Marvel stuff after the jump.

The Halloween season is by far one my favorite seasons of the year.  The decorations, pumpkins, haunted houses, and of course scary movies.  When it comes to horror flicks, there are none more synonymous with Halloween then the Universal Monsters series.  Come this Oct. 31, Dark Hall Mansion and artist Tom Whalen have teamed up to bring a folio set of 10 prints to your home this All Hallow’s Eve!  Better news, everyone will have an equal shot of getting these bad boys.  Hit the jump to check out some images and see how you can get a set for yourself.

Perfectly timed so you can pick it up before Halloween, Amazon’s Deal of the Day is Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection Blu-ray.  The set contains Dracula, the Spanish version of Dracula (a fascinating alternate take on the same script), Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolfman, Phantom of the Opera, and Creature from the Black Lagoon.  I own this set and I recommend it wholeheartedly.  The transfers are incredible, the special features are insightful, and obviously the movies themselves are terrific.  I was re-watching Bride of Frankenstein last night, and it truly is one of the greatest movies ever made.  This set gives the movie and all the other films the home release they deserve.  For $64.99 (57% off), this is a steal.  Remember, Gold Box Deals are only good until the end of the day or while supplies last.

Click here to buy Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection on Blu-ray.  [Note: Collider earns a small referral fee when our readers purchase something on Amazon through one of our links. The money generated helps pay our staff and keep the site running. Thank you for reading and supporting Collider.]

20th Century Fox has set David Fincher‘s adaptation of Gillian Flynn‘s best-selling novel Gone Girl for October 3, 2014.  Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike star in the lead roles of a story that centers on the disappearance of a man’s wife and the resulting investigation that follows.  The cast also includes Tyler Perry, Kim Dickens, Emily Ratajkowski, Patrick Fugit, Carrie Coon, and Neil Patrick Harris.  Gone Girl will share the weekend with Dracula Untold starring Luke Evans.  The fall release date for Gone Girl isn’t too surprising when you consider that David Fincher now caries an awards pedigree, and he’s working from popular source material.

Hit the jump for new release dates for the new adaptation of Frankenstein starring Daniel Radcliffe, and for the Guillermo del Toro-produced animated film Book of Life.

One of the many films to premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was director Alexandre Aja’s (The Hills Have Eyes) new film Horns.  Based on the novel of the same name by Joe Hill, the pic centers on Ig Perrish (Daniel Radcliffe), the main suspect in the rape and murder of his girlfriend.  He awakens one morning to find horns growing from his head, which have the ability to force confessions from strangers.  This aids him in his quest to find the real killer, and exact his revenge.  Horns also stars Juno Temple, Max Minghella, James Remar, Joe Anderson and Kelli Garner.  I caught the world premiere here at TIFF, and am happy to report the film is really well done.  Aja has managed to craft a movie that mixes together a few genres–horror, comedy, love story–and results in something unique and cool.  Plus, the entire cast is great.  Click here to watch the first clip.

The day after the world premiere, I sat down with Radcliffe and Temple for an extended video interview.  They talked about how Horns can’t be pigeonholed into one genre, working with Aja, the way they prepare for a role, what they collect, how they’re both being offered cool projects, and more.  In addition, Radcliffe talked about how excited he is to work with James McAvoy on Frankenstein later this year.  Hit the jump to watch

Some more casting news for you today:

• Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) will join Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy in Paul McGuigan’s untitled Frankenstein project set up at 20th Century Fox.
• Olivia Thirlby (Dredd) has joined Jeremy Garelick’s untitled comedy starring Kevin Hart and Josh Gad.
• Jim Broadbent (Cloud Atlas), Ray Stevenson (Thor) and more join Big Game, written and directed by Jalmari Helander and starring Samuel L. Jackson.
• Step Up 5 has released its full cast, which includes returning stars Ryan Guzman and Briana Evigan.

Hit the jump for more on each film.

While at Comic-Con last week, I landed at exclusive video interview with writer-director Stuart Beattie for his graphic novel adaptation I, Frankenstein.  The film stars Aaron Eckhart as a modern-day version of the creature who is being hunted by demons who want to learn the secret of his creation.  I, Frankenstein also stars Yvonne Strahovski, Bill Nighy, Socratis Otto, Miranda Otto, and Jai Courtney.  The film opens in 3D on January 24th, 2014.

During the interview, Beattie talked about finally getting to show some footage, the plot and tone, the editing process, the running time, films that are similar in tone, Easter Eggs, working with Eckhart, the status of a sequel to Tomorrow, When the War Began, future projects, and much more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Fox has finally found its Frankenstein.  While Daniel Radcliffe has been set as Igor for quite some time in 20th Century Fox’s new take on Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein, the studio has just now cast the titular scientist.  Deadline reports that James McAvoy will play Dr. Victor Von Frankenstein in director Paul McGuigan’s (Lucky Number Slevin, Sherlock) film, which pits the trustworthy Igor as the protagonist.  Apparently McAvoy won out over other actors like Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire) and Toby Kebbell (Wrath of the Titans) who also tested for the role, but he should make for an interesting fit opposite Radcliffe.

Screenwriter Max Landis previously described this new iteration of the classic story as “fun, sad, scary, and moving,” as he wanted to present the definitive story about Igor’s inception.  McAvoy is currently busy filming X-Men: Days of Future Past, but production on Frankenstein should get underway later this year or early next year ahead of the film’s October 17, 2014 release date.

20th Century Fox has made some release date shifts and announcements.  Take a look:

• The Counselor – Director Ridley Scott’s upcoming Cormac McCarthy-scripted drama has been moved up from November to October 25th of this year.  Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, and Brad Pitt star.
• Frankenstein – The new take on the classic monster story—possibly starring Daniel Radcliffe as Igor—will hit theaters on October 17, 2014, just in time for Halloween.  Paul McGuigan (Sherlock) directs from a script by Chronicle scribe Max Landis, which he describes as “fun, sad, scary, and moving.”
• Book of Life – The Guillermo del Toro-produced animated film centered around the Day of the Dead will open on October 3, 2014, a full two years before Pixar’s take on the Mexican holiday.  Jorge R. Gutierrez directs.
• Alvin and the Chipmunks 4 – The inevitable fourth entry in the Chipmunks franchise has been set for release on December 11, 2015.

Hollywood re-imaginings of classic stories are nothing new; in fact, one is hitting theaters this weekend.  Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein has been adapted into just about every form you could think of, with the story being twisted and turned into a multitude of genres, expressing a number of different themes.  A couple of new takes on the classic story are in development at the moment, but the one that appears to be moving forward first belongs to 20th Century Fox.

Paul McGuigan (Sherlock, Lucky Number Slevin) is onboard to direct and just yesterday we learned that Daniel Radcliffe is in final negotiations to star in the lead role of Igor.  The pic boasts a script from Chronicle scribe Max Landis, and the screenwriter recently spoke at length about his take on the tale, revealing that he hopes to stay true to a version of the Frankenstein story that, in his mind, only exists in the zeitgeist.  Hit the jump to read on.

It’s been quite some time since we heard anything about 20th Centry Fox’s new adaptation of the Mary Shelley classic Frankenstein, but the last word on the project was that Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe was possibly interested in taking on a starring role.  The project has been in development for a couple of years, with Shawn Levy initially attached to direct before Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin, Sherlock) stepped in as his replacement last September.  The pic has a script by Chronicle scribe Max Landis, and now it looks as if things with Radcliffe are actually firming up as the actor is in final talks to play Igor.  Hit the jump for more.