We all remember the damp squib that was Van Helsing. Released in 2004, it should have been the Avengers Assemble of the monster genre: you’ve got your Dracula, you’ve got your Frankenstein, you’ve got your Jekyl and your Hyde – instead it was messy, convoluted nonsense the like of which Kate Beckinsale usually gets involved with. Which is probably why she was in it. Well, it looks like Universal want to have another crack at the vampire-hunting bad-ass, and not only that, they want the big little guy Tom Cruise himself to produce and star. Blimey.

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (of Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen BUT IN BETTER NEWS also of Star Trek reboot fame) are on-board to write it, having also recently agreed to pen Universal’s Mummy remake, which we’re not going to get into here. The pair are no doubt well versed in action block-busters, but their history is patchy. We have no idea what to think of guys who are capable of creating screenplays for both the brilliant Star Trek and the horrifying Cowboys And Aliens. But anyway, it looks like Universal want Tom Cruise to step into Hugh Jackman’s shoes and get vamp-busting. It will certainly be a tighter ship if Cruise is on producing duty, but is it enough to save an undead franchise? Answers in an epistolary novel, please…