The Haunting of Hill House’s Oliver Jackson-Cohen to Star as the Titular Character in Universal’s The Invisible Man
Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Movies News The Invisible Man
Universal and Blumhouse have found their leading man for their forthcoming film The Invisible Man, per Deadline.
The Haunting of Hill House actor Oliver Jackson-Cohen will join Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Harreit Dyer and Storm Reid in the film. Jackson-Cohen caught the eye of the filmmakers after his performance in Netflix’s Hill House, which saw him portray part of a fractured family who can’t move on from the haunting memories of their childhood home.
In a complete turn of events, the lesser known actor takes the role over Johnny Depp, who was considered to play the titular role in early development of the film. If we’re being honest, adding none other than Depp to the mess that is the Dark Universe would’ve been utterly entertaining, but it seems they took another route.
If the film is anything similar to the 1933 original (We could bet it’s going to be more than slightly different), Jackson-Cohen will portray Dr. Jack Griffin, who discovers an invisibility potion that also makes him go more than slightly insane, which leads to murderous chaos.
Leigh Whannell (Insidious: Chapter 3 ) will direct, write and executive produce the film. Jason Blum will produce for Blumhouse Productions alongside Goalpost Pictures’ Kylie du Fresne.
Other than Hill House, Jackson-Cohen has starred in NBC’s Dracula, James McTeigue’s The Raven with John Cusack and the 2010 action film Faster with Dwayne Johnson and Billy Bob Thornton. The film is his first major role since acting in Netflix’s horror anthology series.
The Dark Universe has seemed to be ill-fated from the start, and with the help of box office disasters The Mummy and Dracula Untold, the “universe” has practically died. However, The Invisible Man has proven it’s alive and well, despite losing its writer last year. Whether that’s a good thing or not, has yet to be determined. We guess we’ll just have to wait for it to hit theaters to make our final judgment.