UPDATED, 12:12 PM: Unijversal said today that its Blumhouse remake of The Invisible Man will arrive on February 28, two weeks earlier that planned. It was set to face off against Warner Bros’ Godzilla vs. Kong and now faces United Artists’ hidden-camera prank pic Bad Trip.
The news comes about an hour after Sony announced that its Blumhouse horror pic Fantasy Island is exiting that frame and moving up to Valentine’s Day. That leaves March’s Friday the 13th without a horror opener, with Paramount’s untitled sequel to A Quiet Place set to bow on March 20.
PREVIOUSLY, May 20: Universal has set a March 13, 2020 release date for The Invisible Man, the Blumhouse-produced take on the Uni monster franchise that will star Elisabeth Moss. Leigh Whannell is aboard to write and direct the pic, which now will begin production in Sydney in July.
The pic’s release date had been bookmarked for an Untitled Blumhouse Productions Project. It still is going head-to-head on the date with Warner Bros’ own monster mashup Godzilla vs. Kong.
The release date news Monday comes as Deadline just revealed Storm Reid will join Moss in the cast of the thriller. Johnny Depp had been involved with the project to star but that tie-up previously disappeared.
Details are also sketchy about the plot, but as part of Uni’s idea to open-source the classic characters to filmmakers inspired to create their own unique stories, there were no budget, genre or rating restriction.
The Invisible Man is being produced by Jason Blum for his Blumhouse Productions and Kylie du Fresne for Goalpost Pictures. The film is a co-production of Goalpost Pictures Australia and Blumhouse in association with Nervous Tick for Universal Pictures.