Universal and Imagine are in talks with Neil Burger to write and direct Bride of Frankenstein, the long-gestating remake of the 1935 monster movie, The Hollywood Reporter's Risky Business blog reported.

Burger, who would write the script with partner Dirk Wittenborn, most prominently wrote and directed The Illusionist, the Edward Norton magician mystery that earned nearly $40 million for Yari Film Group in 2006.

James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein, which starred Boris Karloff as the monster and Elsa Lanchester as the title bride, continued the story that began with 1931's Frankenstein.

A monster, on the run from an angry mob, has a series of adventures and also persuades Dr. Frankenstein to create a mate. The doctor is successful, but the bride (who is not a central character) winds up rejecting the monster at the end of the movie.

The new Bride has had a series of stops and starts. About five years ago, American Splendor writers Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini were attached to write the screenplay for the update. Their concept was to set the picture in contemporary New York, with a young woman dying and then unnaturally brought back to life (Burger's version is expected to differ significantly from that concept).

Jacob Estes, a writer on the Spider-Man spinoff Venom, also at one point had been attached to write a draft, the trade paper reported.