Just under two years ago, it was announced that one of the film's in Universal's "Dark Universe" of connected monster movie reboots would be THE INVISIBLE MAN, with Johnny Depp attached to play the title character and MEN IN BLACK writer / BILL & TED co-creator Ed Solomon working on the screenplay.
Unfortunately, the Dark Universe plans were shaken up after the first film in the series, THE MUMMY, underperformed on too large of a budget at the box office last year. The producers who were crafting the universe, Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan, moved on to other projects, while the second film, a remake of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, was delayed indefinitely. (But may be moving forward again soon.)
Universal is now in a "do or die" situation with the Dark Universe, having to re-think their plans and figure out a new way forward, if there is one. Speaking with Digital Spy, Solomon said he thinks Universal is "reconfiguring" the Dark Universe – and revealed that he is no longer working on THE INVISIBLE MAN:
At the end of the day, I think Universal and I had a different idea of what the movie was gonna be. We began thinking that our notions would meld, and I should've listened more closely to what they really were wanting.
I think Universal has had to come to a kind of reckoning of, 'What are we doing with the Dark Universe?' and, 'What is our real intention with it?', and I think they're reconfiguring it now, which I think is probably good.
So I'm not working on it."
This isn't the first time Universal has switched up their INVISIBLE plans in recent years. Back in 2007, the studio had hired David S. Goyer to write and direct a new version of THE INVISIBLE MAN, and Goyer remained attached to the project for at least four years. Goyer's vision for the property was to make a period piece along the lines of Guy Ritchie's SHERLOCK HOLMES movies, a sequel to the original film that would become a globe-trotting World War II spy adventure. Sort of like Universal's 1942 film INVISIBLE AGENT. Details on Solomon's approach to the material were never shared.
I'm really into the basic idea of the Dark Universe, so I hope Universal will find a satisfactory way to continue building a new shared cinematic universe populated by their classic monsters and madmen.