One of Universal’s monsters is being brought back from the dead.
Universal and Blumhouse are developing an Invisible Man movie, with Insidious and Saw mastermind Leigh Whannell attached to direct, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Jason Blum and Whannell will produce.
The Invisible Man originated from the H.G. Wells novel that was adapted into the 1933 black-and-white classic starring Claude Rains.
Universal previously had planned a shared universe based off of its classic monster characters, with star Johnny Depp attached in 2016 to play the Invisible Man. Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Javier Bardem and Sofia Boutella were also to be part of what was dubbed the Dark Universe, but those plans were put on hold after the disappointment of Cruise’s The Mummy in 2017.
Universal is now charting a new course, and The Invisible Man is not being developed with the expectation of it being part of a larger universe. The studio is also open to other classic monsters being developed by filmmakers seeking to make movies not connected to a larger universe.
“Throughout cinematic history, Universal’s classic monsters have been reinvented through the prism of each new filmmaker who brought these characters to life,” the studio’s president of production Peter Cramer said Monday in a statement. “We are excited to take a more individualized approach for their return to screen, shepherded by creators who have stories they are passionate to tell with them.”
Whannell broke out as the writer and star of 2004’s Saw, which also introduced Hollywood to director James Wan. Whannell and Wan went on to create the Insidious franchise, with the former making his directorial debut with 2015’s Insidious: Chapter 3. Last year, Whannell helmed Upgrade, a Blumhouse film about a man who is able to access special powers thanks to a sentient computer chip.
Blumhouse’s Glass opened earlier this month and has earned $162.9 million globally to date.
Whannell is repped by Paradigm Talent Agency, managers Stacey Testro and Katie Ybarra from STI and Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light LLP.
