Blumhouse Producing ‘Invisible Man’ for Universal’s Undead Dark Universe

We’re sure you’ll recall Universal Studios’ disastrous attempt to bring new life into the Universal Monsters franchise with the pretty terrible Tom Cruise-led The Mummy. The thought behind the film was to begin a modern chapter of the monsterverse which would include Dracula, Wolfman, The Mummy, Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, etc. you get the idea.

Thankfully, with the poor reception of Alex Kurtzman‘s The Mummy, plans for the “Dark Universe” at Universal were shelved indefinitely, and the chance for someone else to step in presented itself.

Cut to this morning, and the reveal that Blumhouse will be picking up one of the Monster titles- The Invisible Man.

Leigh Whannell will reportedly be directing a new take on The Invisible Man, reteaming with Insidious, Upgrade producing partner Jason Blum of Blumhouse, who will be producing under that banner for…Universal.

So apparently the Dark Universe is….undead?

President of Production at Universal Peter Cramer said of the announcement:

“Throughout cinematic history, Universal’s classic monsters have been reinvented through the prism of each new filmmaker who brought these characters to life. 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.”

Sources close to this announcement say Johnny Depp, who was originally set to star in The Invisible Man, will not be appearing in this film. They go on to say he may still make an appearance in another of the revived Dark Universe titles, however.

We also kind of love Jason Blum’s excited tweet about the announcement:

We are finally doing one. Can’t wait. And would never have happened without the extraordinarily talented @LWhannell. He is one of the best filmmakers I have had the privilege to work with. https://t.co/rNJmz4Ez97

— Jason Blum (@jason_blum) January 28, 2019

We’ll let you know what else we hear about this project. Wonder what Kevin Bacon thinks of it?