10 Upcoming Movies That Have Already Been Saved From Sucking
2. The Invisible Man
The Original Pitch
A few years ago, Universal unveiled their "Dark Universe": a cinematic universe centred around classic monsters like The Mummy and Dr. Jekyll. A Johnny Depp-starring Invisible Man movie was also in the works, but that idea was dropped when Tom Cruise's The Mummy underperformed, killing the franchise before it could even begin.
And that failure was deserved, because The Mummy was simply not a good film. The action-oriented approach it took showed that the Dark Universe's architects just didn't get it, and couldn't be trusted to bring these characters to the screen in the right way. Plus, we've seen Johnny Depp's quirky schtick a million times over by now, and it was hard to know if he'd take The Invisible Man down a similar route, or actually try something bold and fresh for a change.
How It's Been Saved
With the Dark Universe not really working out, Universal has decided to abandon the shared universe concept and focus on creating distinctive, individual movies from visionary directors instead.
To that end, they recently hired Leigh Whannell to write and direct a reboot of The Invisible Man, backed by Jason Blum and Blumhouse Productions. Whannell has had great success working on the Saw and Insidious franchises so he can handle creepy material, and he's just coming off helming Upgrade, a fantastic little thriller with a neat blend of grungy and futuristic vibes.
An Invisible Man movie that incorporates elements of that style would be a fantastic way to update the character for modern audiences, while remaining faithful to those horror roots and keeping the whole thing grounded. Sign us up!