Bruce Campbell reveals that his Frankenstein horror movie, Bruce vs. Frankenstein could go straight to Netflix. As the star of The Evil Dead franchise as well as its sequel TV series Ash Vs. Evil Dead, Campbell has gained a significant following over the years. Known primarily for his cocksure swagger in the face of countless demonic hordes, Campbell has created a niche for himself in low-budget horror cinema, often with intentionally hilarious results.
Campbell has become so adept within these sorts of cinematic worlds that he’s also moved from actor to filmmaker at times, most recently with the film he directed in 2007, My Name is Bruce. His third directorial outing, the film mixes fantasy with reality when a group of teens mistakes the Evil Dead star for a real demon slayer. They kidnap Campbell and bring him to their town in order to help fight off an ancient, newly awakened Chinese demon. Several years later, Campbell stated he wanted to make a sequel that he described as “The Expendables of horror.” In other words, his intent is to take well-known horror actors (such as Robert Englund and Kane Hodder) and mix them into a Campbell-esque world of onscreen horror mayhem.
A decade later, and fans still haven’t seen any sign that Bruce Vs. Frankenstein is on its way. However, Campbell is still very much involved with the project and appears to have his sights set on Netflix as a home for it. The most recent news about the passion project comes to us from Diabolique, with Campbell explaining that the biggest step in getting the film off the ground is the creation of a graphic novel which he will then adapt into a screenplay. According to Campbell, the idea came from his partner Mike Richardson, who has previous experience with this type of approach at Netflix:
"I talked with Mike Richardson, who is my partner on this and we’re going to start with a graphic novel. So, I am going to adapt the screenplay. We’re going to put that out first so people in the industry can get a better sense of it. Mike has been selling a lot of projects to Netflix and he said that’s kind of the way to go with his material and fantasy stuff so he suggested we do that first. We’ll get a great artist, sell it in comic book form, people can totally see it and as a director, its kind of like doing storyboards. It’s a tremendous amount of extra prep that I can do just by going through it because I actually have to think about pages, panels and descriptions. It’s a format that’s not my normal format. Screenplay format, I can fart, I got that down. This is different with the way it looks on the page so it will be a very interesting translation process."
After a decade of planning and work, it does seem that Bruce Vs. Frankenstein is moving in the right direction. What’s more, Campbell’s approach to the film is one that will likely create a powerful familiarity with the material – something that is essential for any filmmaker. Campbell has built an entire career on maintaining a strong understanding and connection to source material. The Ash character that he’s portrayed for decades has become so interchangeable with who the 62-year-old horror legend is that it’s become the focus of films such as My Name is Bruce and Bruce Vs. Frankenstein.
It’s also a plus that Campbell wants to go to Netflix with the film. If Ash vs Evil Dead would have started off on Netflix rather than Starz it could have gotten a wider fanbase. A Netflix release would not only benefit Bruce vs. Frankenstein by opening it up to more fans, but it could also give Campbell more creative freedom on his project. However, even if Bruce Vs. Frankenstein doesn’t make it to Netflix, hopefully, the graphic novel will get a wide release, allowing fans to still enjoy Campbell's riotous adventures.
Source: Diabolique