Back in February 2020, just before theaters were shuttered by COVID, Leigh Whannell’s “The Invisible Man,” starring Elisabeth Moss, earned both critical acclaim and strong box-office returns. Made on a modest $7M budget, the horror remake went on to gross nearly $144M worldwide.
The film carried the DNA of an indie thriller, with Cronenberg-like textures and Whannell’s meticulous direction. Naturally, Hollywood isn’t ready to let it rest, and now a sequel appears to be moving forward.
In an interview with ScreenRant, Moss was asked if she had any updates on “The Invisible Man 2.” She replied: “We still want one, so we’re still working on it.” The actress added that the only obstacle is to find the “right script,” which is currently being worked on.
Don’t expect Whannell to return, though. He’s already expressed zero interest in making the sequel, saying he was satisfied with the film’s “perfect” ending — and for me, that’s a dealbreaker. No Whannell, no go.
We’re talking about Blumhouse here — a company that never lets a dead dog rest, especially when it comes to sequels to sub-$10M hits. Then again, did they possibly learn a lesson from this summer’s “M3GAN 2.0”? Doubtful.
I’ve already mentioned in the past how talented a filmmaker Whannell is — he has enormous potential. Before “The Invisible Man,” he broke out with the underrated low-budget sci-fi “Upgrade” (2018), which also leaned heavily on the hyper-violence of Paul Verhoeven and the body horror of David Cronenberg.
That said, Whannell is coming off the mixed reviews that greeted his “Wolf Man,” and it seems likely he wants to step outside the Blumhouse sandbox for his next project, perhaps pursuing something more original. That’s what I hope to see from him.
Then again, it’s already well known that Whannell has written a script for “The Green Hornet and Kato,” which he also hopes to direct, so maybe his journey through IP wastelands isn’t fully done. It wouldn’t be the wisest choice for him, given the “Wolf Man” debacle, but that seems to be a priority for the filmmaker.