Next to True Detective, FX’s miniseries adaptation of Fargo was one of the year’s biggest surprises in the TV realm. The prospect of anyone touching the Coen brothers masterpiece was unthinkable, but Noah Hawley—who wrote all 10 episodes—crafted a unique take on the material that caught on with critics and audiences alike. While he’s no doubt very busy putting together the second season of the show (which will feature a new cast, story, and setting), Hawley has understandably caught the eye of Hollywood, and buried in a report on Sony optioning his novel Before the Fall is the news that Hawley is also scripting one of Universal’s upcoming monster movies. More after the jump.
In a report over at Deadline is the news that Hawley is separately writing the script for an untitled project at Universal that will be a part of the studio’s interconnected monster movie universe. No further details are given, but this is Universal’s answer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe given that they don’t own the rights to any major superhero properties.
Screenwriters Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek) and Chris Morgan (Fast & Furious) are overseeing the Universal Monster Movie Universe, which will kick off with a reboot of The Mummy that Kurtzman will direct. It’s unclear which monster movie Hawley is working on, but there are a limited number of options: Wolfman, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein, Dracula, and Phantom. I wasn’t as high on Fargo as most seemed to be, but Hawley is a strong writer and I will be curious to see which project he’s putting his stamp on.
As for Before the Fall, Hawley will produce and pen the script for the adaptation of his own novel for Sony. This is a pre-emptive buy from the studio, as the novel hasn’t been released yet. There are currently no plot details at this time.
