Johnny Depp to Star in ‘The Invisible Man’ Remake
Johnny Depp will star in a remake of The Invisible Man, the latest addition to Universal Pictures’ growing monster universe, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film is based on the H.G. Wells novel of the same name, which was notably adapted into a movie in 1933 starring Claude Rains. In the film, Rains plays Dr. Jack Griffin, a chemist who concocts a serum that turns him invisible, then infamously wraps his face in bandages and embarks on a killing spree.
Despite the news of Depp’s involvement neither a release date, nor director for The Invisible Man have been announced. The script, however, is reportedly being written by Men in Black scribe Ed Solomon, one of several writers Universal has tapped to flesh out reboots of their classic monster films under the supervision of producers Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan.
Along with The Invisible Man, Universal is moving ahead with a reboot of The Mummy starring Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella. Kurtzman is slated to direct, while Jon Spaihts (Van Helsing, Marvel’s upcoming Doctor Strange) is writing the script. The Mummy is set to open on June 9th, 2017, per Variety.
Universal announced its plans to reboot its massive monster library last year. From the Twenties through the Fifties, the studio released a slew of classic titles including Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man and The Creature from the Black Lagoon, along with myriad sequels, off-shoots and crossovers. The impending reboots will place these characters in contemporary settings, while the films will also intertwine to create an expansive world, à la the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“We’re creating a mythology, so we’re looking at this canon and thinking, ‘What are the rules?'” Kurtzman told Variety at the time. “What can we break and what are the ones that are untouchable?”