‘Wolf Man’ Director Leigh Whannell Is Content With Leaving ‘The Invisible Man’ As A Standalone Movie: “I Can’t Imagine Gluing More Story Onto That”
The Invisible Man is Universal’s most well-received reboot of a classic concept from its catalog. The film isn’t what James Whale, Claude Rains, or HG Wells for that matter had in mind, but it did well and established a reputation that makes it seem prime for a sequel.
However, there is one small problem: its director Leigh Whannell isn’t interested. Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, he conceded that sequels are big business in that town, and he has borne witness to that on two occasions (maybe more if that Upgrade TV series happens).
“Sequels are mostly driven by the economics of Hollywood. ‘We scored, we did well, and let’s do it again. Let’s get them back there.’ And I’ve been a front-row viewer of that. I have also written two movies [Saw and Insidious] that have turned into long-running franchises with varying degrees of artistic success,” Whannell said.
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He has seen those series grow way beyond his and James Wan’s original intentions, which Whannell doesn’t sound like he takes as a positive, though he stops short of taking potshots at other Saw installments. “I’m not going to pretend that every movie in the Saw franchise is…” he said. “That film has become its own beast, and I sit outside of it now.”
Moreover, Whannell worked hard on his ending and doesn’t want to spoil that. Using the ending of Se7en as an example, he calls the perfect ending a “holy grail” every filmmaker strives for. “I was so happy with Invisible Man’s ending that I just don’t feel the artistic need to go forward with it,” he said.
“The financial need is something different. The studio might look at that and say, ‘Well, we feel like it should keep going because we want to make more money.’ But on an artistic level, I’m like, ‘That’s a nice closed door there. Let’s just leave it closed,'” he continued.
If Blumhouse and Universal were to open that door again, there are a few avenues they could take, but many think the logical place to go is following Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) as she uses her dead abuser’s suit to become a vigilante.
Last year, Elisabeth Moss expressed how game she was to revisit the saga of Cecilia, and while it might not be what Leigh Whannell wants, the actress claims she and Blumhouse are developing the sequel.
“We are, I would say – and by we, I mean Blumhouse and my production company [Love & Squalor Pictures] – we are closer than we have ever been to cracking it. And I feel very good about it. We are very much intent on continuing that story, for sure,“ Moss said in a Happy Sad Confused interview (via Fangoria).
Elizabeth Banks was developing an Invisible Woman film of her own, a comedy (and, technically, a remake) that was put on hold and is reportedly no longer in active development.
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