Well, Universal’s shared Dark Universe was a bust after Tom Cruise’s 2017 The Mummy tanked at the box office, so the studio is taking a more individual approach to their monster movies. They have announced that Elizabeth Banks will be directing and starring in The Invisible Woman. The film has been written by Erin Cressida Wilson, who wrote The Girl on the Train, though it’s unclear whether this will be a reimagining of the original The Invisible Man (which was a horror/thriller, or its sequel The Invisible Woman (which was more comedy). According to The Hollywood Reporter, the tone of the film is Thelma & Louise meets American Psycho.
Universal’s attempt at a shared monster cinematic universe was intriguing to say the least, particularly considering it was going to include Cruise, Johnny Depp, Russell Crowe, and possibly Dwayne Johnson and Javier Bardem. It was ambitious if anything. The studio is now betting on Banks, despite the fact that her recent directorial effort, Charlie’s’ Angels, has not been received well by critics or the box office.