The Dracula Gamble That Built Universal’s Monster Empire (Ep. 81)

The Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, Tv & Film

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From queue changes to construction walls to nighttime lagoon testing, the parks offer plenty to parse this week. The guys then pivot from the Epic Universe lagoon to Universal’s classic monsters, using the buzz around Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein to explore how the 1931 film lurched into existence. Expect lost projects, studio pivots, and a Monster role Bela Lugosi famously refused. NEWS • VelociCoaster ends its single rider line, likely due to party sorting and load-efficiency issues. • Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly shopping DC theme park rights to Universal, raising big questions for Marvel, Six Flags, and international parks. • Removal of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit sparks speculation, though new construction-wall posters suggest general theming rather than a specific IP. • Nighttime testing at the Epic Universe lagoon shows projection effects featuring a bird-or-dragon silhouette. • Universal Studios Hollywood opens sales for FanFest Nights and a late-night New Year’s Eve event, prompting questions about noise control before Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift debuts. FEATURE • Guillermo del Toro’s long-gestating Frankenstein began as a Universal concept more than a decade ago. • Jim walks through how Universal’s early monster era took shape under financial pressure following the 1929 crash. • The studio acquired stage rights to Frankenstein after Dracula’s success, initially planning it for Bela Lugosi, who rejected the role. • The episode ends as Universal begins hunting for a new star, eventually leading James Whale to discover Boris Karloff in the studio lunchroom. HOSTS • Jim Hill - IG: @JimHillMedia | X: @JimHillMedia | Website: JimHillMedia.com FOLLOW • Facebook: JimHillMediaNews • Instagram: JimHillMedia • TikTok: JimHillMedia SUPPORT Support the show and access bonus episodes and additional content at Patreon.com/JimHillMedia. PRODUCTION CREDITS Edited by Dave Grey Produced by Eric Hersey - Strong Minded Agency SPONSOR This episode is sponsored by Be Our Guest Vacations, a platinum-level earmarked travel agency offering concierge planning for Universal, Disney, cruises, and more. If you would like to sponsor a show on the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, reach out today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Think about cheese.
0:16.2	Make your thoughts cheesier.
0:19.5	Now add 100% chicken breast fillet, Chipotle sauce and an omega cheese melt, and it's giving
0:24.2	the new cheesy chicken stack at McDonald's.
0:27.6	Did we mention it's cheesy?
0:29.2	Cheese.
0:31.1	Availments with the 4th of Jan, 2026 from 11 a.m.
0:33.4	Plus, and participation may vary.
0:34.5	Subjects availability.
0:35.4	Welcome back to the Epic Universal podcast.
0:38.2	I'm entertainment writer Jim Hill,
0:40.0	and this is the podcast where we cover the latest universal news, rumors, and history.
0:45.5	And as always, I'm joined by Eric Hersey.
0:48.7	So how are you tonight, Eric?
0:50.7	Jim, I'm doing great.
0:52.1	You know, funny thing is, I didn't tell you, but our washer decided to die not so long ago. And I had to find myself at a laundromat for the first time in, let's say, 15, 20 years. And I took a nice book. I got the history of Universal. I think it's by someone, a gentleman named Nick Sims or whatever. And I was going going to read that and I said, I'm going to be at a laundromat and I'm going to hammer out chapters of this. And I had to do 10 loads of laundry because we were out for a while. And sure enough, I didn't sit down one time. It was from one to the next to the next to the next. So I surprised how much. I'm like, you think of a laundromat, you think you sit it in there, and you sit and you wait. And then you wait some more and you wait some more. No waiting at all. So I can't say I've read much of the book. I didn't get much accomplished. But I have been reading in between, you know, other
1:44.7	tasks. So I'm learning more and more each day. That's a good goal to have. On the other hand,
1:50.4	I, you know, we had a power outage, I want to say, last winter or the winter before, and I
1:58.0	ended up in the same situation. I ended up at a local laundromat.
2:02.4	And what, again, it had been so long since I'd been there that, you know, I came armed with a roll
2:09.7	of quarters. I figured, all right, I'll eat it is my roll of quarters and I'll feed it into the machine.
2:14.7	And I'll feed it into the, no, they'd gone to this card system where I had to get my credit card out, charge up a plastic
	...

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