Before the world got all topsy turvy on us, THE INVISIBLE MAN was released and gained the admiration of critics and moviegoers alike. With a 91% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, it's one of, if not the best, reviewed films of the year and Elisabeth Moss even earned some Oscar buzz for her top-notch performance in the film. The Universal/Blumhouse release carried a $7 million budget and given its worldwide gross of $124.6 million, sequel talk was bound to happen and star Elisabeth Moss believes a sequel all comes down to fan demand for one.
In an interview with "Bloody Disgusting", Moss put the desire for a sequel all on the fans but she seems game to return if it's something fans of the film really want:
"Look, if people want it that's kind of a big part of what we need in order to do it. So put the word out there that YOU want it and then I'll help!"
THE INVISIBLE MAN is still the best film of 2020 that I've seen so far and I know we're dealing with a pretty light year so far due to the COVID-19 pandemic but even if we were playing with a full calendar year with no interruptions, this take on the classic Universal Pictures movie monster would still be at the top of the list. What writer and director Leigh Whannell did so well was not simply rebooting the classic story but also putting a very modern twist on it. Beyond well-established scares and moments of suspense, perhaps the scariest aspect of the film is its approach to domestic violence. At the heart of its story is a woman trying to break free from a very controlling and toxic situation while her abuser goes to any length to maintain that control. Approaching the reboot from this angle made for a very topical story that is grounded in reality.
Despite all of my praise for the film, I REALLY don't think a sequel is necessary although it can be argued that the ending does leave the story open to be explored further. I know that money, along with fan demand, drives these decisions but this film is completely fine as a one-off story. There are more Universal movie monster reboots coming down the line with Ryan Gosling taking on the Wolfman and Elizabeth Banks stepping into the role of the Invisible Woman so perhaps the focus should go to those stories rather than trying to milk more scares from THE INVISIBLE MAN. They could very well go the shared universe route and try to connect all of these films but Universal tried to do with THE MUMMY reboot with Tom Cruise. That film was expected to start a new movie universe for Universal's famed movie monsters but an estimated $95 million was lost instead and that idea quickly died.
In the film, Cecilia's (Elisabeth Moss) abusive seemingly takes his own life and leaves her his fortune. Cecilia suspects his death was a hoax and as a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see. The movie also stars Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, and Michael Dorman.
Do YOU want a sequel to THE INVISIBLE MAN or should Universal Pictures put their focus into new stories?