Universal made a very wise decision teaming up with Blumhouse to reboot their classic monster movies, starting with The Invisible Man. And they made an even smarter one in hiring writer-director Leigh Whannell, who turned a dated short story into a fascinating social commentary. While no one quite knows where their line of mythical horror will go from here, the box office numbers and reviews for The Invisible Man show they’re off to a strong start.
The head of Blumhouse himself, Jason Blum, joined Whannell in a chat with Screen Rant to celebrate the home release of the film. The creatives discussed moments that changed from script to screen, as well as their own personal desires for a sequel and other monsters to follow.
That opening scene is just so powerful. Was that always going to be the opening, or was there a different setup at all for this film?
Leigh Whannell: Actually, the first draft did have a different scene. The very first draft I wrote had a scene that took place after she had escaped - I guess I can give this away now - and it was it was just a whole different theme. I can credit Blumhouse - Jason and Cooper Samuelson, who works for Jason - I can credit them with saying, "Why don't we start the movie more right in the action?" And then through a conversation with them, I was like, "Yeah, this is much better. To just go bang."
So, there's a perfect example of how working with Blumhouse makes the films better.
Was there anything that you guys conceived or shot that wasn't in the film or just didn't make the cut?
Leigh Whannell: Well, there's a lot of deleted scenes on this video release. I think the first cut was like, 2 hours and 45 minutes. And Jason said, "That's fine. You can release that." And I said, "That's crazy. That's too long."
Jason Blum: No, I said, "You could release it. No one will come see it, but you could release it."
Leigh Whannell: Jason just yelled at me on the phone. He said, "90 minutes!" He didn't even know what movie I was working on, he just said, "90 minutes!"
No, look, it's funny how the movie tells you. Because you have these scenes that when you shoot them, you fall in love with them. It's like agony to kill your darlings. But - I'm sure Jason would agree with me here - the quickest way to get over that, and I think this might be an evil plot by Jason, is that you do a test screening. And all of a sudden, a scene that you were formerly in love with, you instantly want to slash out with a scalpel. When you see the audience start shifting in their seat, checking the phone, you're like, "That one's gone. It's gone!"
In the audience, there's a certain internal rhythm, so I feel like the deleted scenes had to go. There's no deleted scene that I'm like, "If only I could have put that in the film." I think if I really wanted it to be in the film, it would be in the film. But the test audiences tell you pretty quickly what the movie should be, I think.
Jason, this film has a very unique distinction. It was a big box office hit, and then once this whole pandemic happened, it was also one of the first films to be released on video on demand. Can you talk to me about that experience alone?
Jason Blum: Yeah, initially, I was kind of disappointed because there was a little life left in the movie when the theaters closed. But in retrospect, now, it turned out to be a great thing. Because if you compare the numbers of what it did on PVOD, versus what it would have done theatrically - many many, many, many, many more people saw it during its theatrical window. So, I'm thrilled about that.
I mean, obviously, ideally as a producer - and I'm sure Leigh would say as a director - you want people to see your work in movie theaters. But if the choice is not to see it or see it at home, it makes me very happy that they saw it at home. So, it ultimately turned out to be turned out to be very beneficial and a very good thing for the movie.
Let me just say the ending - amazing. Cecilia is clearly on the edge; she's over the edge with a breakdown. What are the chances we can get the Invisible Woman sequel?
Jason Blum: I hope very good, because I asked Leigh that same exact question. Every single day of quarantine, I've asked him that question. So far, he's being very evasive. Maybe you can get it out of him.
Leigh Whannell: I stopped answering my phone, and then Jason hired a skywriter. He's like, "Where's my sequel?" I can't get away from him.
I don't know, we'll see. I mean, look. In this weird quarantine time, I've still been working on something with Blumhouse that we'll talk about later. But we'll see. We'll see. I'm not sure.
What other character would you reboot or revamp out of the traditional monsters from Universal?
Jason Blum: I'd love to do Frankenstein. I think that'd be so fun.
Leigh Whannell: Yeah, I feel like any one of them could be a great movie. They're all iconic characters for a reason, so you could make a really great Dracula movie, a great Frankenstein movie, the Wolf Man... It all depends on the passion of the person making the film. That's what I hope for.
I feel like I would love to see all of those characters. As a horror fan, I want to see all of those characters get new movies, by different passionate filmmakers.
With Blumhouse, I'm going to tell you right now, because that's what I want.
Leigh Whannell: If they're smart, they would use Blumhouse.
The Invisible Man is now available on Blu-ray and Digital