When I watched The Invisible Man for the first time, I was knocked out by Elizabeth Moss’ bravura performance. I also thought it was an incredibly creative update of the story. Focusing on the victim put so much more power in the villainy of the titular character. The Invisible Man is more terrifying because we can’t see him, but like his victim, we know he’s there.
Universal chose to go with Blumhouse and Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man after the failure of their original Dark Universe plans in the wake of the remake of The Mummy.
Blumhouse has had hits in the horror field with a number of projects including; The Purge, Insidious, Paranormal Activity, and Ouija. The success of the Blumhouse produced Get Out had further enhanced the studio’s prestige with both box office success and rave reviews. Reportedly Blumhouse now has a first look 10 year contract with Universal Pictures that will lead to their involvement in future Universal Monster reboots.
After the success of The Invisible Man, Elizabeth Moss was approached by Universal to appear in a sequel. Moss is interested in a new version of The Invisible Woman, a lighthearted follow-up to the original Invisible Man. She did, after all, make the invisibility suit vanish.
In a Collider interview published 10/13/2021, Jason Blum confirmed, “Wolfman, we are also working on the script, got to get the script, right. In that case, it’s Ryan Gosling…But working on trying to get a script that he feels good about and comfortable about and excited about.” The idea was pitched by Gosling and until he is satisfied with the script, there will be no full moon.
Leigh Whannell exited Wolfman due to scheduling issues, and Ryan Gosling brought Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine) onto the project. He also worked with Gosling on Place Beyond the Pines.
Also in pre-production is Bride, with Scarlett Johansson on deck as both producer and actress in the lead role, and Sebastian Lelio is slated to direct a script written by Rebecca Angelo, Lauren Schuker Blum, and himself.