Universal wants to bring back all of their old monster properties, they have made that very clear in recent years. Inspired by the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they tried to start their own cinematic universe, the Dark Universe, a few years ago. Problem is, they gave THE MUMMY a $125 million budget, so even when the movie made over $409 million at the global box office, a great amount for a mummy movie, it was still considered a disappointment. So then Universal did the most sensible thing they could have done. They turned to Blumhouse Productions for a reboot of THE INVISIBLE MAN.
If the Dark Universe plans had moved forward, THE INVISIBLE MAN would have been a big budget movie starring Johnny Depp. Instead, Blumhouse's version of the concept cost $7 million and just made $49 million its opening weekend. This new take on THE INVISIBLE MAN is already a success.
Here's Box Office Mojo's report:
With an estimated $29 million, Universal and Blumhouse's The Invisible Man finished atop the weekend box office. Critics and audiences alike took to the film, as it holds a 89% critics score on RottenTomatoes to go along with 90% audience score. Opening day audiences also gave the film a "B+" CinemaScore, which is a solid result for a genre film. Looking ahead, fellow Blumhouse releases with similar debuts include Happy Death Day, Insidious: The Last Key and The Purge: Anarchy and they finished with domestic runs from $55-71 million, suggesting great things for this $7 million production.
Internationally, the film added another $20.2 million from 47 markets for a $49.2 million global debut. Leading the way is a $2.86 million launch in the UK followed by France ($2.19m), Mexico ($1.8m), Australia ($1.65m), Germany ($1.2m), Spain ($.1m) and Korea ($1.08m). Several markets will release next weekend including a March 5 release in Russia, ending with a May 1 release in Japan.
Those other Blumhouse productions mentioned all went on to make over $100 million worldwide, so THE INVISIBLE MAN is going to pay off for Universal a lot more than it would have if they had dumped truckloads of money into that Depp version.
Written and directed by Leigh Whannell, THE INVISIBLE MAN has the following synopsis:
Trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy and brilliant scientist, Cecilia Kass (Moss) escapes in the dead of night and disappears into hiding, aided by her sister (Harriet Dyer), their childhood friend (Aldis Hodge) and his teenage daughter (Storm Reid).
But when Cecilia’s abusive ex (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) commits suicide and leaves her a generous portion of his vast fortune, Cecilia suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of eerie coincidences turns lethal, threatening the lives of those she loves, Cecilia’s sanity begins to unravel as she desperately tries to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.
Our own Chris Bumbray gave the film a 10/10 review.
With THE INVISIBLE MAN doing well, things are looking good for the future of Universal's monster properties. Several more films are in development, including Elizabeth Banks' THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, Dexter Fletcher's RENFIELD, Paul Feig's DARK ARMY, and a musical inspired by the classic song MONSTER MASH, to be directed by Matt Stawski.
