Guillermo del Toro’s next venture, The Shape of Water, may not be hitting the big screen until February 2018 but it’s already garnered acclaim from critics after making several appearances on the festival circuit in 2017, some are even tipping the feature for an Oscar or two, however, Del Toro has been giving a little insight into what may have been with Universal’s Dark Universe.

The director behind the likes of Hellboy and the forthcoming Pacific Rim Uprising revealed to TimesTalks that he had been indeed approached by Universal to be the principal architect for their venture into the arena, but to their disappointment he refused and it was one decision he regretted making. If the fate of Universal’s Dark Universe is anything to go by, we bet Universal are kicking themselves they didn’t do more to persuade him to come on board as well.

“I’ve said no to things that are enormous and I’ve never looked back. The only time I repent I didn’t do something was in 2007, when Universal in an incredibly gentle and beautiful manner said, ‘do you want to take over the Monster Universe?’” Del Toro recalled. “And they gave me the reins of several properties, and I didn’t do it. That I repent. So this is a confessional moment, I repent. That’s the only thing.”

After the abysmal reception Tom Cruise’s The Mummy received, the whole franchise has gone into a bit of a meltdown; only this month saw producers/writers Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan depart for sunnier horizons putting the fate of the whole franchise on a life support machine. Even Bride of Frankenstein director Bill Condon has distanced his film declaring it is not a part of the Dark Universe.