Johnny Depp Joins Tom Cruise in Universal's Monsters Universe, Will Play 'The Invisible Man'

After locking in Tom Cruise to star in “The Mummy,” Universal has landed a second major movie star to bolster its Monsters Universe, as Johnny Depp is set to star in “The Invisible Man,” an individual familiar with the project has told TheWrap.

Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan, the architects of the Monsters Universe, will produce the big-budget movie for Universal. Kurtzman is also directing “The Mummy,” which Universal will release on June 9, 2017.

While Ed Solomon (“Now You See Me”) is writing the script, the director for “The Invisible Man” remains, well, invisible. Universal executives Jon Mone and Jay Polidoro will oversee the project on behalf of the studio.

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Claude Rains starred in Universal and director James Whale’s 1933 adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel, which follows a scientist who becomes invisible — at the cost of his sanity. It’s a role that sounds right up Depp’s alley.

The actor recently starred in “Black Mass” and will soon be seen in Kevin Smith‘s “Yoga Hosers” and a pair of Disney sequels — “Alice Through the Looking Glass” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.” He’s represented by UTA.

Johnny Depp vs. Whitey Bulger: 11 'Black Mass' Characters and Their Real-Life Counterparts (Photos)

Johnny Depp plays Whitey Bulger, one of the most notorious mobsters in U.S. history who terrorized South Boston in the '70s and '80s.
Warner Bros./FBI
Joel Edgerton plays John Connolly, a former FBI agent who fed Bulger and his mob information about the FBI's plans to catch them.
Warner Bros./WGBH News
Benedict Cumberbatch stars as William "Bill" Bulger, Whitey's brother. He was President of the Massachusetts Senate and the president of the UMass.
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Rory Cochrane plays Stephen Flemmi, a close associate of Bulger's and his Winter Hill Gang.
Getty Images/FBI
Juno Temple plays Deborah Hussey, Stephen Flemmi's stepdaughter.
Getty Images/WVCB
Adam Scott stars as Robert Fitzpatrick, who was arrested for lying under oath during the 2013 Bulger trial.
Warner Bros. /CNN Films
Peter Sarsgaard plays Brian Halloran, who was an associate of the Winter Hill Gang.
Warner Bros./FBI
Dakota Johnson stars as Lindsey Cyr, Bulger's girlfriend who fell pregnant just a few months after she started dating the crime lord.
Warner Bros./WGBH News
Jesse Plemons plays Kevin Weeks, former mobster and longtime friend of Bulger's.
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W. Earl Brown plays Johnny Martorano, Bulger's hitman.
Warner Bros./FBI
Corey Stoll plays Fred Wyshak, a U.S. Attorney in the Bulger trial.
Warner Bros./Boston Herald
Kevin Bacon's character, Charles McGuire, is a composite of several different FBI agents and investigators on the case, so no real-life photo was available.
Warner Bros.