The Invisible Man (2020 film)

**Produced by** | Jason Blum
 **Cinematography** | Stefan Duscio

***The Invisible Man*** is a 2020 Australian-American Science Fiction film directed by Leigh Whannell . Based on the Novel By H. G. Wells With the same name.

*The Invisible Man* was released in the United States on February 28, 2020. by Universal Pictures. The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for Moss' performance, its inventive modernization of the novel's plot, and the combination of scares with "a smart narrative about how people can be manipulated and abused in harmful relationships". The film grossed $134 million worldwide against a $7 million budget. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic closing theaters across the world, Universal announced the film would be made available for digital rental just four weeks after it was released theatrically.

The development of a new film based on Wells's 1897 novel began as early as 2006.The project was revived as part of Universal's shared cinematic universe in 2016, intended to consist of their classic monsters, with Johnny Depp attached to star in the title role. After *The Mummy* was released in 2017 to critical and financial failure, development was halted on all projects. In early 2019, the studio changed their plans from a serialized universe to films based on individualized story-telling and the project reentered development. Principal photography lasted from July to September 2019 in Sydney, Australia.

## Plot

Trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with wealthy optics engineer and businessman Adrian Griffin, Cecilia Kass drugs him with diazepam one night, and escapes his home with the help of her sister Emily.

Cecilia hides out with childhood friend Detective James Lanier and his teenage daughter Sydney. Two weeks after Cecilia’s escape, Adrian seemingly commits suicide and leaves her $5 million in his will, handled by his lawyer brother Tom. Cecilia suspects another presence in the house after several strange events and calls for James but he assures her she is just traumatized. During a job interview, she faints after finding her work portfolio's contents removed. The doctor says they found high levels of diazepam in her system. In her bathroom she finds the same bottle from which she drugged Adrian (but dropped during her escape).

Cecilia arranges a meeting with Tom and James, insisting that Adrian faked his death and used his optics expertise to become invisible in order to torment her, but gets rebuffed. Sydney is hit by an unseen force, and she and James assume Cecilia did it; she tries a number of tactics to catch the figure. After finding Adrian's old phone and covering the figure with paint, she ends up in a violent struggle before escaping to Adrian's home to investigate. In his lab she finds a suit that confirms her suspicions. The invisible figure attacks again so she flees and contacts Emily. The pair meet in a restaurant, but the invisible figure slits Emily's throat and places the knife in Cecilia's hand, framing her for the crime.

Cecilia is remanded to a mental hospital while she awaits her trial, and there a staffer informs her that she is pregnant. Tom offers to get her charges dropped if she agrees to "return to him" and raise the child, implying that he helped his brother stage his suicide and revealing Adrian tampered with her birth control to ensure she became pregnant. Cecilia refuses and steals a pen from his briefcase. That night, she uses the pen to pretend to commit suicide to summon the invisible figure. When the figure tries to stop her, she stabs him repeatedly, causing the suit to malfunction. The security team arrives but the figure incapacitates them before fleeing the hospital with Cecilia in pursuit. Not wanting to harm her because of her pregnancy, the figure instead threatens to attack those she loves.

Cecilia races to James' house, where she finds the figure attacking him and Sydney. She manages to shoot the figure to death but when she unmasks it, it is Tom in the suit. Police find a captive Adrian alive at his house, tied up and claiming Tom held him prisoner. Cecilia disputes this, insisting the brothers must have shared the suit, with Adrian sending Tom to the house knowing what would happen.

In an attempt to get Adrian to confess, she meets him at his house while James listens on a wire. She agrees to mend their relationship but only if he confesses to being the figure. Adrian insists Tom did kidnap him and claims that the experience changed his outlook on life and how he treated her. When she cries, Adrian alludes to his abuse, using similar phrasing to that of the figure. Smiling, Cecilia departs to use the restroom. Moments later, the security camera captures Adrian seemingly committing suicide. Cecilia returns and apparently distraught, calls the police. Out of the camera's sight, however, she taunts Adrian during his final living moments, having retrieved the spare suit she had hidden in the house to kill him.

When James arrives, she confirms what the camera saw. He spots the suit in her bag but allows her to leave. Relieved that she's finally free of Adrian, Cecilia leaves with the suit.

## Cast

* Elisabeth Moss   as   Cecilia Kass
* Benedict Hardie   as   Marc
* Amali Golden   as   Annie
* Oliver Jackson-Cohen   as   Adrian Griffin
* Harriet Dyer   as   Emily Kass
* Aldis Hodge   as   James Lanier
* Storm Reid   as   Sydney Lanier
* Michael Dorman   as   Tom Griffin

## Release

*The Invisible Man* was theatrically released in the United States on February 28, 2020 by Universal Pictures. It was originally scheduled for release on March 13, 2020, but in August 2019 was moved up two weeks.

On March 16, 2020 Universal Pictures announced that the film would be released digitally in the United States and Canada through Premium VOD on March 20, just three weeks after the film's theatrical debut and before the end of the usual 90-day theatrical run. This was because of movie theater closures that started in mid March because of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Other films distributed by the studio, such as *The Hunt* and *Trolls World Tour*, were also released earlier than expected for the same reason.

As pandemic restrictions were loosened, the film was released in three Santikos Theatres locations in San Antonio, Texas on May 1, 2020.

## Reception

### Box office

*The Invisible Man* grossed $64.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $69.8 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $134.7 million.

In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross $24–30 million from 3,610 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $9.8 million on its first day, including $1.65 million from Thursday night previews. The film went on to debut to $28.9 million, topping the box office. The film made $15.1 million in its second weekend (dropping 46%) and then $5.9 million in its third weekend. In the film's fourth weekend, due to the mass theater closures around the country caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it made $64,000 from 111 locations, mostly drive-in theaters.

The film continued to play almost exclusively at drive-ins in the following weeks; it made $444,000 in its 13th weekend, $320,800 in its 14th, and $209,000 in its 15th. The film reclaimed the top spot atop the box office in its 16th weekend, making $383,000 from 187 theaters.

### Critical response

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 91% of 388 reviews of the film were positive, with an average rating of 7.71/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Smart, well-acted, and above all scary, *The Invisible Man* proves that sometimes, the classic source material for a fresh reboot can be hiding in plain sight." Metacritic assigned a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 58 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, and PostTrak reported it received an overall positive score of 76% and an average four out of five stars, with 53% of people they polled saying they would definitely recommend the film.

Manohla Dargis of *The New York Times* wrote that Moss's performance "gives the movie its emotional stakes," adding, "while her agony can be unnerving, it is even more shivery when her weeping stops and this horror-movie damsel in distress becomes a threat." Writing for *The A.V. Club*, Jesse Hassenger gave the film a "B+", also praising Moss's performance and the film's centering of her character's experience; the publication followed up with a video review from senior writer Katie Rife and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, who also gave a positive review, for the aesthetic and filmmaking of Blumhouse Productions and Moss's performance. Alison Willmore of *Vulture* commented about the effectiveness of Moss's facial expressions, and said that she "has established herself as an empress of the onscreen breakdown, our lady of ruined eye makeup". Patrick Cavanaugh of ComicBook.com gave the film four out of five stars, and wrote that Whannell's film is "an experience that is both effective as a full-blown horror film and as a chilling reminder of the abuse one can suffer from a supposed loved one."

Conversely, Nicholas Barber from BBC gave the film two out of five stars, opining that "the latest remake of the HG Wells tale offers a timely feminist spin – but it's lacking in thrills." He criticized the film's vagueness, concluding, "at a time when small-scale horror movies can be as stunning as *A Quiet Place* and *Get Out*, a film as perfunctory as *The Invisible Man* feels insulting." Jake Coyle of the Associated Press was also less than positive, describing it as " a bracingly modern #MeToo allegory that, despite its brutal craft, rings hollow."

## Production

Development of a new *Invisible Man* film began as early as 2007, when David S. Goyer was hired to write the screenplay. Goyer remained attached to the project as late as 2011 with little to no development on the film announced.

In February 2016, the project was redeveloped to be apart of Universal's cinematic universe comprised of their movie monsters. Johnny Depp was cast in the film, with Ed Solomon writing the screenplay. However due to the finical and critical failure of *The Mummy*, The plans for the cinematic universe were cancelled. In January 2019, Blumhouse Productions were tasked with making the film. Leigh Whannell was hired to write and direct, with Depp no longer involved with the film. In March, Elisabeth Moss entered negotiations to star in the film. She was officially cast the next month. Storm Reid was added in May.

## Notes

1. ↑ **Untitled sequel**: In February 2020, after the release of the first film, Whannell and Moss stated that the movie was standalone with a definitive ending. Whannell explained that once the movie is released, and some time passes he may consider working on a follow-up film. In May, Whannell and Blum stated that discussions regarding a sequel were ongoing. By June when asked about a sequel, Moss stated: "Look, if people want it that's kind of a big part of what we need in order to do it. So put the word out there that YOU want it and then I'll help!" In July 2020, it was officially announced that Whannell is working on a sequel to *The Invisible Man*.
2. ↑ ***The Invisible Woman***: In November 2019, it was announced that a spin-off film centered around the female counterpart to Invisible Man was in development. Elizabeth Banks was set to star in, direct, and produce a new adaptation of *The Invisible Woman* (1940), based on her own original story pitch. Erin Cressida Wilson will write the script for the reboot of the female monster, while Max Handelman and Alison Small will serve as producer and executive producer, respectively. Banks was allowed to choose a project by Universal Pictures from the roster of Universal Classic Monsters, ultimately choosing *The Invisible Woman*.

## References

This is a list of references for **The Invisible Man (2020 film)**. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

1. ↑ David S. Goyer Directing The Invisible Man Before Magneto
2. ↑ David S. Goyer's 'Invisible Man' Remake Is Still Alive
3. ↑ Johnny Depp To Star In ‘The Invisible Man’ At Universal
4. ↑ ‘Invisible Man’ Finds Director, Sets New Course for Universal’s Monster Legacy (EXCLUSIVE)
5. ↑ Elisabeth Moss Circling Universal’s ‘Invisible Man’ (EXCLUSIVE)
6. ↑ Elisabeth Moss Officially Boards Universal-Blumhouse’s ‘The Invisible Man’
7. ↑ Universal-Blumhouse’s ‘The Invisible Man’ Adds ‘A Wrinkle In Time’ Star Storm Reid