{"id":45914,"date":"2019-01-28T18:36:52","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T23:36:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/?p=45914"},"modified":"2019-01-28T18:37:55","modified_gmt":"2019-01-28T23:37:55","slug":"invisible-man-leigh-whannell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/2019\/01\/28\/invisible-man-leigh-whannell\/","title":{"rendered":"Universal Teams With Blumhouse, Leigh Whannell For New INVISIBLE MAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Even though Universal’s plans for a shared cinematic universe crashed and burned with 2017’s The Mummy<\/strong>, the studio is still very interested in leveraging their stable of classic monster characters. To that end they have hired Upgrade director Leigh Whannell to head up a new take on The Invisible Man<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

According to Variety –<\/p>\n

[T]he movie is part of a fresh strategy for Universal’s monsters properties, bringing creative directors with distinctive visions to the classic characters and moving on from the interconnected Dark Universe concept\u2026<\/p>\n

[T]he titles will be rooted in horror, with no restrictions on budget, tone, or rating, and no expectation that they will exist as part of a shared universe. An insider close to the process said freeing up the characters’ origins and stories to different interpretations will help them appeal to modern audiences.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As such, Johnny Depp, who was attached to the Dark Universe iteration of The Invisible Man<\/strong> back in February 2016 is not involved here. Neither will this film be a part of any shared franchise. It will stand on its own.<\/p>\n

Joining Whannell on the project will be his long-time producing partner Jason Blum, who, through his Blumhouse pictures production company, has a ten-year first look deal with Universal. The pair previously worked together on Insidious: The Last Key<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

No writer has been attached to the project yet.<\/p>\n

Universal first adapted H G Wells’ classic science-fiction novel in 1933 with James Whale, the shaper of many of Universal’s classic monster characters, directing. The initial movie was hit and spawned a cycle of sequels that lasted another four films.<\/p>\n

In the wake of Marvel Studios hugely successful interconnected superhero franchise, Universal looked towards doing a similar thing with their classic monsters characters. Writers and directors were brought in and soon a number of projects including Bride Of Frankenstein<\/strong> with director Bill Condon attached, The Wolf Man<\/strong> with writer Aaron Guzikowski scripting and Creature From The Black Lagoon<\/strong> with Gangster Squad<\/strong> screenwriter by Will Beall. The Phantom Of The Opera<\/strong> and The Hunchback of Notre Dame<\/strong> were also in line to join the Dark Universe franchise.<\/p>\n

But that all came to a screeching halt in June 2017 with the release of The Mummy<\/strong>. Even with a marquee value name like Tom Cruise headlining the film, reviews were bad and audiences stayed away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dark Universe is dead but the characters who were to inhabit it live on.<\/div>\n

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