Following the critical and commercial success of The Invisible Man, Universal Pictures are going all-in on monster movies. The studio has already commissioned unrelated film The Invisible Woman from Elizabeth Banks, Dexter Fletcher‘s Dracula-adjacent Renfield movie, and Paul Feig is developing Dark Army. Now, they’ve got another major creative name on board.
James Wan – known for helping develop multiple horror franchises including Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring – and his Atomic Monster banner are developing their own new monster movie for Universal. Supernatural writer Robbie Thompson is penning the script for the untitled horror thriller, which follows a group of teens who discover that a neighbour is building a monster in his basement.
The film is said to be in the vein of the 2007 movie Disturbia, which itself was an homage to Alfred Hitchcock‘s classic Rear Window. Wan will only produce the film though.
Still, having jettisoned plans for an interconnected cinematic universe, the studio is encouraging filmmakers to come up with unique creative takes on its classic monsters, which is far preferable to a batch of films connected poorly by corporate minions. Giving people like Wan, Banks and Feig essentially free reign to make whatever they want should lead to a batch of interesting films.
Exciting news for monster fans. However, if you’re only interested in seeing projects Wan directs himself, you’re in luck. His next film, Malignant, hit cinemas Friday, August 14.
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