Hollywood is (still) in its superhero craze, and in the past, it’s had a zombie craze, a vampire craze, a slasher craze, and more. The entertainment industry also pumps out a yearly supply of generic Christmas movies that are always the same, and formulaic rom-coms have been released virtually unchanged since the 1960s. Clearly, Hollywood doesn’t care if it repeats itself over and over again. So then, why do we get so few monster movies?
The realism of most genres definitely has its place in film since it can help add emotional weight to a story. But c’mon, how many bitter dramas and gritty noirs can a person watch before they want something big, loud, colorful, and epic?
It’s not that monster movies aren’t popular either. In general, when monster movies are released, they’re often successful. Even a “moderately” successful monster movie like Anaconda managed to rake in more than $136 million in 1997 (equating to about $266 million today). Monster movies are fun, exciting, and can even be suspenseful and scary. They’re exactly what lots of audiences want. So why aren’t there more of them?
The Monsterverse proves monster movies are profitable
There was a period throughout the 2000s and early 2010s where monster movies had clearly become passé. The era only had a handful of mainstream monster movies, with 2007’s The Mist and 2008’s Cloverfield being the two most notable examples. But again, both movies turned a profit, with Cloverfield even scoring a record-breaking $46 million opening weekend, making it the biggest January premiere ever at the time.
Maybe Cloverfield just came out at the wrong time. In 2008, Hollywood was hyping the zombie and vampire trends into full gear, with things like Twilight and True Blood dominating pop culture. So it’s possible the studios were preoccupied with appeasing the current trend instead of creating a new one. But things started to change in 2013 with the release of Pacific Rim. Guillermo del Toro’s movie about giant monsters was only a moderate success in America, but a smash hit globally, once again proving that monster movies could turn huge profits.
Then, in 2014, we got the Godzilla reboot that ultimately launched the Monsterverse. After it grossed almost $525 million, Hollywood finally seemed to get that monster movies were popular and profitable. A King Kong reboot followed, then a Godzilla sequel, and then the mash-up movies that brought Kong and Godzilla into the same film series.
So far, the franchise has grossed over $2.5 billion at the box office and spawned streaming series like Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Skull Island. Also, let’s not forget that Godzilla is having a resurgence in the Japanese Tohoverse as well thanks to hits like Shin Godzilla (2016) and Godzilla Minus One (2023).
The Monsterverse has proven that monster movies can be the big blockbuster hits that studios want, but aside from Godzilla and King Kong, we’re still not seeing many releases from the genre.
Monster movies have been around since the start of Hollywood
The success of Godzilla isn’t the first example of how popular monster movies can be. In fact, monster movies have been around since the beginning of film and even dominated Hollywood in its early years. Godzilla himself originated back in 1954, and by then monster movies had already been around for decades. The Wolf Man came out in 1941, King Kong roared into theaters in 1933, and The Mummy was released in 1932.
But the genre goes back even further, with Dracula and Frankenstein both premiering in 1931, and further back in 1915, there was the silent monster film The Golem. Since then, monsters have continually captured audiences’ imagination for over 100 years thanks to hits like Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954), Alien (1979), and John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982). There are so many examples of hit monster movies throughout the decades, so it’s even more bizarre that fans of the genre don’t see more monster movies hitting theaters or streaming services.
There are tons of monster movie IPs waiting to be revived
In recent decades, the entertainment industry seems more and more afraid to release original content, instead choosing sequels, reboots, prequels, or book adaptations. But with over a century of monster movie IPs to choose from, it would be easy for Hollywood to revive a franchise that’s already been successful.
Tons of monster movies have never had sequels, or haven’t had sequels in decades, like Tremors, The Descent, and Dog Soldiers. Cloverfield never even got a proper monster-focused sequel. If Hollywood is too afraid to create new monster movies, there’s tons of successful IPs out there for studios to choose from.
There’s also promising signs from the few franchises that are being revived. The Predator film Prey was a massive hit for Hulu and Alien: Romulus premiered to good reviews in August. The Jurassic World franchise is another example of a revived IP that became successful – so much so that the movies are even more profitable than the originals. What more proof does Hollywood need that audiences love monster movies and want more?
We might be at the start of a monster movie resurgence
The good news is that monster movies might be making a comeback. The Monsterverse has helped reinvigorate interest in the genre, and there are more Godzilla films on the way. Plus, Universal Studios is working on its Dark Universe land at the upcoming Epic Universe theme park. The land is dedicated entirely to classic Universal monsters like Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein’s monster, and more. Along with that, Universal has announced plans to reboot many of its classic monster franchises.
Another Predator sequel is also reportedly in production, an Alien TV series is on the way, and more giant shark movies are heading to theaters in the coming years, including a 47 Meters Down sequel, among others. Could this be a sign that the tides are turning? Could a new monster craze be on the way? Could it be Hollywood’s next trend?
I certainly hope so. As someone who loves monster movies, I don’t think we get enough of them, and I’m sure there are lots of other fans out there who feel the same.