He's played a pirate, an outcast, and a mobster, and now that Johnny Depp is set to star in The Invisible Man, the prolific actor could add "iconic Universal Monsters character" to his list of memorable roles.

Deadline reports that Depp is lined up for the lead role in The Invisible Man. The character was created by legendary author H.G. Wells in his 1897 novella, The Invisible Man. In the novella, a scientist named Griffin engages in criminal activities after performing an irreversible experiment on himself that causes his body to become unseen by the human eye.

It's not yet known who is writing The Invisible Man script or who will direct the movie, but it is a part of Universal's new shared cinematic universe featuring iconic characters from the studio's history, including Wolf Man, Dracula, Van Helsing, the Bride of Frankenstein, and The Mummy.

The lattermost of those characters will be the first to return to the big screen in The Mummy, which will star Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella and be directed by Alex Kurtzman from a screenplay by Jon Spaihts (Doctor Strange, Prometheus). The Mummy is scheduled for a June 9th, 2017 theatrical release. The film's director, Kurtzman, along with Chris Morgan, is leading a creative team of multiple writers in the overall Universal Monsters relaunch initiative.

The Invisible Man has been adapted for film and television numerous times, beginning with Universal Pictures' 1933 film starring Claude Rains. Universal Pictures followed up their first film with various sequels and other adaptations, including the Vincent Price-starring The Invisible Man Returns (1940), The Invisible Woman, Invisible Agent, The Invisible Man's Revenge, and Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man.

Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates on The Invisible Man and other new Universal Monster movies.

Source: Deadline
  • Derek Anderson
    About the Author - Derek Anderson

    Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.

    When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.