Elisabeth Moss officially boards Leigh Whannell’s Invisible Man remake

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Universal's Dark Universe franchise came to a disappointing end after just a single film, but the failure of THE MUMMY may have been the best thing for the Universal Monsters. The studio announced that they would be charting a new course away from an interconnected universe and instead focus on bringing in creative directors with distinctive visions for the classic monsters.

The first film out of the gate will be a reboot of THE INVISIBLE MAN written and directed by Leigh Whannell (UPGRADE) for Universal Pictures/Blumhouse Productions. Elisabeth Moss (US) was in early talks to star in THE INVISIBLE MAN last month, but now it's finally official. Meet you new star. When the Dark Universe was still a thing, it was Johnny Depp who was slated to play The Invisible Man. "Throughout cinematic history, Universal’s classic monsters have been reinvented through the prism of each new filmmaker who brought these characters to life," said Peter Cramer, Universal’s president of production, when the project was first announced. "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." Production is expected to kick off in Australia later this year.

You shouldn't expect THE INVISIBLE MAN to become some big-budget blockbuster this time around, as Blumhouse founder and CEO Jason Blum has said that it will definitely be a lower budget movie. "It’s not dependent on special effects, CGI, stunts. It’s super character-driven, it’s really compelling, it’s trilling, it’s edgy, it feels new," Blum teased. "Those were all things that felt like they fit with what our company does. And it happened to be an Invisible Man story, so it checked both boxes. And we responded to it because I think Leigh is just an A+ director." Blum estimated that the budget will likely fall somewhere between $5 and $10 million. As a huge fan of the Universal Monsters, I think this is a much better approach than the Dark Universe concept. These characters don't need giant budgets or to become superheroes, and keeping the budget on a smaller scale will allow for more experimentation.

Elisabeth Moss was recently seen in Jordan Peele's US and Alex Ross Perry's HER SMELL, but the actress will be back for the third season of The Handmaid's Tale which will debut on Hulu on June 5, 2019.