The character of the Invisible Man is part of Universal Pictures’ family of classic movie Monsters—including legendary figures Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Bride of Frankenstein and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Part of the reason these infamous characters have endured is because they are timeless and represent a wide range of cultural fears and anxieties—the intersection of scientific discovery and timeless love and loss. They’re adaptable to whatever time we’re living in.
The upcoming horror thriller The Invisible Man from writer/director Leigh Whannell and starring Elisabeth Moss represents a fresh, new direction for how to celebrate these classic characters. This new direction is filmmaker driven, inviting innovative storytellers with original, bold ideas for these characters to develop the stories and pitch them.
This film is an example of how that process worked. Whannell had an exciting, new and terrifying idea for this character, and the studio was thrilled to work with him on this new vision. Going forward, Universal Monster films will be rooted in the horror genre, with no restrictions on budget, rating or genre. They won’t be a part of a shared interconnected universe, but instead will each stand on their own.
The first chapter is shepherded by blockbuster producer Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions. “We’re the first of a new generation of Universal Monster movies,” Blum says. “Universal is working on a handful of them, but ours is the first. So, that’s nerve-wracking but also a lot of fun.”
The producer of all the films in Universal’s juggernaut The Purge franchise—as well as the studio’s blockbusters from Split to Get Out — explains that the Monsters stay close to him. “Our company’s been based at the studio for a long time,” Blum says. “Universal has a huge history in horror through the Monster movies of the ʼ30s and ʼ40s. That lore looms large at the studio. I had a meeting with Chairman Donna Langley, and she wanted to reinvigorate the muscle that was exercised so often by the Monsters. Since we’ve been compared to that era of Universal because we’ve done so much horror with the studio, it seemed like a very natural fit.”
“Those Monster movies are near and dear to my heart,” Blum continues. “That’s why I wanted to do this. Our concept was to make the stories relevant to today. And that’s just what Leigh has done with The Invisible Man.”
In Philippine cinemas February 26, The Invisible Man is distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/uipmoviesph/ ; Twitter at https://twitter.com/uipmoviesph and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/uipmoviesph/.
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