10 Failed Movies That Should've Been TV Shows

5. Van Helsing

Hellboy 2019
Universal Pictures

Obviously, there is already a Van Helsing TV series that was recently renewed for a fourth season, but we're talking about the 2004 Steven Sommers blockbuster. One of the highest high concepts ever created, the idea of a younger, sexier Van Helsing hunting down Universal's entire roster of classic monsters across 1880's Europe is a doozy, albeit one that was botched on the big screen.

Sommers' $160m CGI extravaganza isn't without its campy charms, but there's enough content thrown into the story to fill three movies and there's just so much going on that by the closing stretch there's nothing but noise and pixels. Universal have been struggling to find good use of their iconic characters after the Dark Universe debacle, so why not take one of the most interesting pitches in years and try and make it work?

Utilizing the period setting, Vatican-employed monster hunter Gabriel Van Helsing travels the continent dispatching of his enemies in episodic fashion with Count Dracula operating as the Big Bad, the final boss pulling the strings behind the scenes. Throw in Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, the Invisible Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon and more and you've got an easily-marketable action horror show with incredible potential.

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