Johnny Depp to Star in Remake of The Invisible Man

Universal's monster movie universe kicks off next year, and the studio is busy lining up some big names for it. Tom Cruise is already confirmed to star in a reboot of The Mummy, and now it has been reported that Johnny Depp is on board for The Invisible Man.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Depp has signed on to star in the film. It will form part of Universal's ongoing series of interconnected movies centred around their classic monster properties. It is unknown at what stage of development the film is at, and a director is yet to be attached. THR reports that Men in Black writer Ed Solomon has been hired to pen the script.

The original film of The Invisible Man was released in 1933. It was based on the HG Wells novel and starred Claude Rains.

The Mummy will be the first of the series to hit cinemas, and it is expected in 2017. Alex Kurtzman, co-writer of JJ Abrams' two Star Trek movies, is directing--Kurtzman was hired by Universal in 2014 to develop the new franchise.

Other key monsters that are expected to be brought back include The Wolfman, Van Helsing, Dracula, and Frankenstein. As Variety noted last month, while Cruise isn't on board as a producer of The Mummy, he is expected to play a major role in the development of the series.