Although Universal’s Dark Universe franchise is no longer focusing on interconnectivity between its movies following the underwhelming performance of The Mummy in 2017, some of its announced projects are still moving forward. The Invisible Man is one of them, only rather than Johnny Depp playing the lead as previously announced, that role will now be filled by The Handmaid’s Tale star Elisabeth Moss.
Back in January, at the same time it was announced that future Dark Universe movies would be standalone stories, it was revealed that Johnny Depp, who had been attached to The Invisible Man since 2016, would no longer appear in the movie, although he could still appear in a different Dark Universe project down the line. A little over a month later, it was reported that Elisabeth Moss was being eyed to take over the leading role.
Now EW has confirmed that the actress, also well known for her time on Mad Men, has officially boarded The Invisible Man, which Jason Blum is producing through his Blumhouse Productions company. This will be Moss’ second Blumhouse picture, as she recently starred in Jordan Peele’s Us, which has been met with critical acclaim and made over $220 million worldwide so far.
It’s also important to mention that this isn’t a case where Elisabeth Moss will lead a movie that was originally intended for Johnny Depp. The current version of The Invisible Man is being written and directed by Upgrade and Insidious: Chapter 3’s Leigh Whannell, so he’s crafting a brand new story that Moss will star in. Whether that means the title will be changed to The Invisible Woman (assuming she’s the one pulling off the disappearing act) or something else remains to be seen.
It was clarified in January that just because The Invisible Man was being retooled didn’t necessarily mean it would be the next Dark Universe movie to be released. However, the fact that Elisabeth Moss has officially been cast just a month after her name was mentioned for the project could indicate Universal is pushing towards getting The Invisible Man off the ground sooner rather than later.
Originally a novel penned by The Time Machine author H.G. Wells, The Invisible Man was first adapted as a movie in 1933, with Claude Rains playing the eponymous role. Although the Invisible Man (a moniker adopted by several individuals) would be a recurring antagonist in the golden age of Universal Monsters, the character hasn’t been the star of his own movie in recent decades, although one named Rodney Skinner did appear in 2003’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
As for Elisabeth Moss, along with the previously mentioned projects, her credits include The West Wing, Top of the Lake, Get Him to the Greek and The Old Man & The Gun. Along with reprising Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale Season 3 this June, she can be seen later this year in The Kitchen and Shirley.
The Invisible Man doesn’t have an assigned release date yet, but production will take place in Australia. We here at CinemaBlend will keep you updated on how the project is coming along as more news comes in, but for now, head to our 2019 release schedule to plan your trips to the theater later this year accordingly.
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