Fun fact: Dracula Untold was supposed to be the start of the Dark Universe, but it was such a dumpster fire that Universal pulled the plug and decided to try again with The Mummy. 

The thing is, they had this, ready to go before anyone else: the Brendan Fraser MUMMY movie was clearly positioning Fraser's "Rick O'Connell" character as an Indiana Jones stand-in, but with a consistent entourage. They could have moved on to
Rick O'Connell Vs. The Vampire, and continued with the Werewolf, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Instead, they decided to blow their wad on an entirely separate, clearly franchise-intended
Van Helsing — which fell on its face.