'Bride of Frankenstein' Gets Jolted Back to Life

Ah, the Bride of Frankenstein, with that hair brightened by the white lightning streak and those ever-wide eyes. I always thought she was so much cooler than the old and boring Frank she was created for, mainly due to the fact that Elsa Lanchester emoted more in stills than many actors ever do in their whole careers in moving pictures. And now the time might have finally come for her to hand over the reigns.

The Hollywood Reporter's Risky Biz Blog reports that Universal is teaming with Imagine to re-do Bride of Frankenstein. Should talks work out, Neil Burger (The Illusionist and The Lucky Ones) will write the remake with writing partner Dirk Wittenborn, and then helm the monster fest. This isn't a new idea for Hollywood; Tinseltown has been trying for years to get a remake off the ground. Most recently, the Bride was going to be transplanted to modern New York with Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, but as of now, Burger's spin will "differ significantly."

On the one hand, I'm not a big fan of Illusionist and am iffy on the idea. On the other, I can imagine a wonderfully eerie film if the Bride was revisited with modern technology ... unfortunately, all of those thoughts have Lanchester's face. Could anyone ever replace her? Helena Bonham Carter springs to mind immediately, but it would seem wrong for her to head this dark fare without Tim Burton, wouldn't it?