Aaron Eckhart to star in Lionsgate’s ‘I, Frankenstein’

Aaron Eckhart has been tapped to play the titular monster in the upcoming I, Frankenstein. Lionsgate has announced in a press release that the modernized take on Mary Shelly's classic novel will begin shooting in Australia by January of next year, with a release scheduled for February 22, 2013.

Based on the graphic novel of the same name, I, Frankenstein is being described as "a modern epic" in which Frankenstein's monster has survived to the modern day and becomes embroiled in a "centuries old war between two immortal clans" in a "dark, gothic metropolis." If the latter half of that sentence sounds vaguely familiar, than it shouldn't surprise you to hear that the source material was created by Kevin Grevioux, co-creator of the Underworld film franchise.

The film will be helmed by relative newcomer Stuart Beattie, who's perhaps best known for screenwriting work on such hits as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Collateral. His directorial debut was last year's Tomorrow, When the War Began, an Australian production.

The project is among the growing ranks of Frankensteins in the works, with Fox making plans for a theatrical update public last June and NBC announcing a Frankenstein drama series that's being prepped back in August. With zombies and vampires as well worn as they are, Frankenstein seems like a logical progression, but with the Wolfman failing to spark interest last year, we're almost out of traditional movie monsters. Mummies seem like they might be due for a comeback, but what public domain monster are you waiting to see return to the silver screen? Swamp things? Black Lagoonites? Plain old ghosts?