Haunting of Hill House’s Oliver Jackson-Cohen to lead The Invisible Man

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

After Universal’s Dark Universe instantly didn’t pan out after the disastrous THE MUMMY in 2017 the studio went back to the drawing board with their slate of monster movies. Thinking smaller and focusing less on a shared universe of movies, plans are coming along nicely for a new take on THE INVISIBLE MAN, and now the biggest puzzle piece has been solved in landing actor Oliver Jackson-Cohen (THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE) for the titular role.

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Per variety, Jackson-Cohen joins a cast that includes Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Harriet Dyer, and Storm Reid, with Leigh Whannell (INSIDIOUS, UPGRADE) set to write and direct. This new movie comes as Universal announced earlier this year that they will shift away from franchise efforts towards more filmmaker-driven projects. They have since teamed with Jason Blum and his Blumhouse banner for new movies, starting with INVISIBLE MAN. Filming is expected to begin in Sydney, Australia later this month and is still aiming for a March 13, 2020 release date.

Back when plans for the Dark Universe were still in place, Universal dropped a cast photo along with plans for their slate of movies, which included actor Johnny Depp, who was set to play the lead in their INVISIBLE MAN movie. When THE MUMMY tanked with critics and audiences plans were soon scrapped, and the movie with Depp fell by the wayside, as did more MUMMY movies and a Frankenstein movie with Javier Bardem. 

The story of “The Invisible Man” is based on the classic H.G. Wells story which centers on a chemist named Dr. Jack Griffin, who discovers the ability to become invisible performing experiments in the field of optics. The first movie adaptation was part of Universal’s early run of successful monster movies, starring Claude Rains in the main role. The story has inspired other movies and TV shows, including the movie HOLLOW MAN starring Kevin Bacon.

Jackson-Cohen received rave reviews for his work as drug-addicted Luke Crain in the hit Netflix horror series THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE. This will be the actor's most high-profile role yet, but he did incredible work as the tortured Crain, struggling to kick his addiction after experiencing trauma as a young child (and the death of his twin, Nell), and proved he's a perfect choice for a complex character like the one at the center of this story.

THE INVISIBLE MAN is in theaters on March 13, 2020.