The 'Call My by Your Name' actor and the 'Big Little Lies' star are both vying for the title role in Universal's upcoming movie, after Johnny Depp departed the project.
- Mar 12, 2019
AceShowbiz - Universal Pictures is still pursuing to make "The Invisible Man" happen after losing Johnny Depp. The studio is now reportedly considering Armie Hammer and Alexander Skarsgard for the title role in the upcoming reboot. According to That Hashtag Show, both actors are frontrunners for the part after the studio narrowed down the list to two.
"The Invisible Man" is a part of Universal's planned Dark Universe, a series of interconnected reboots focusing on the iconic Universal Monsters. It was expected to be launched with 2017's "The Mummy" starring Tom Cruise. But after the film's disappointing critical and financial reception, the studio has held back its plan of building the franchise.
That Hashtag Show, however, reports that the studio still plans to "deliver its stable of classic monsters to modern audiences" with "The Invisible Man" being put at the top of the list. The upcoming movie will reportedly have no connection to any other films.
"The Invisible Man" is based on H. G. Wells' science fiction novel of the same title and was first turned into a feature film in 1933 by James Whale. It starred Claude Rains as Dr. Jack Griffin, a scientist who successfully discovers a way to render himself invisible, yet when he fails to find a way to make himself visible once again, he begins to go mad.
Depp was previously attached to the reboot, but stepped down earlier this year for an unknown reason.
Jason Blum is on board as producer along with Leigh Whannell, Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan. Leigh Whannell is tapped as director in addition to writing the script.
Blum has said that the new "Invisible Man" movie will fall more in line with Blumhouse's movies rather than 2017's "The Mummy". "It was like the Blumhouse version of 'The Invisible Man', it's a lower-budget movie. It's not dependent on special effects, CGI, stunts," Blum explained to Collider. "It's super character-driven, it's really compelling, it's thrilling, it's edgy, it feels new. Those were all things that felt like they fit with what our company does. And it happened to be an Invisible Man story, so it checked both boxes. And we responded to it because I think Leigh is just an A+ director."
No release date is set for the movie just yet. Production is reportedly expected to star this May.
