Johnny Depp will no longer appear in Universal’s reboot of “The Invisible Man,” a source tells TheWrap.
Leigh Whannell, the director of “Insidious: Chapter 3” and “Upgrade,” has signed on to direct the remake of “The Invisible Man,” which Universal Pictures is developing based on the classic monster movie character, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap.
Whannell will also produce alongside Jason Blum for his Universal-based Blumhouse Productions.
Depp had originally joined the project back in February 2016 as part of Universal’s planned Dark Universe based on its classic monster movie characters. The franchise kicked off with Tom Cruise in “The Mummy” and was also meant to star Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as planned movies for “Bride of Frankenstein,” “The Wolf Man” and others.
And that plan for a shared universe is no more. However, Universal plans to still make projects based on these characters and the Universal monsters’ legacy.
These films will also be rooted in horror and will carry no budget, genre or rating restrictions, with no expectation for the films to be part of a shared universe.
Whannell recently collaborated with Blumhouse on hit films including “Insidious: The Last Key” and “Upgrade.” Whannell is represented by Paradigm Talent Agency, managers Stacey Testro and Katie Ybarra from STI, and Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light LLP
Variety was first to report news of Whannell’s hiring.