Leigh Whannell is one of the biggest names in modern horror cinema, Whannell alongside James Wan created both the Saw and Insidious franchises. Leigh Whannell himself directing, Insidious Chapter 3 (2015) and Upgrade (2018). With his history of making quality horror movies, it is no wonder that critics and audience are praising The Invisible Man as the low budget horror movie based on Universal’s classic monster franchise has taken the top spot on the box office earning $29.1 million.
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The movies’ success led to Leigh Whannell signing a new two year deal with James Blum and his studio Blumhouse. A two-year, first-look pact covers film and TV project written, directed, or produced by Whannell. In a statement about the new deal James Blum had this to say:
“Leigh creates movies which not only build franchises but fundamentally change the landscape of their genre,” Blumhouse’s Jason Blum said Saturday in a statement. “After he and James Wan made Saw, it launched dozens of copycats. Their work with Blumhouse on Insidious founded not just a franchise but dozens of classical proscenium PG-13 supernatural horror films. I have no doubt that will be true for The Invisible Man and for anything else he wants to create. I just want to be there with him when he does!”
While there is no evidence that his next projects will be based on another Universal classic monster. Universal is interested in rebooting Dracula next, which Whannell has shown some interest in directing. In an Interview with BloodyDisgusting, Whannell explained how he would bring the iconic bloodsucker to the modern world:
“I think I would try to get at the essence of what makes Dracula scary, which is, to me, what makes Dracula scary is his lack of mercy. The fact that he might pretend,” Whannell considers aloud. “Like, he’s not a romantic. He needs to drink blood. What parallels in life can you think of that equate to someone without mercy. It’s a psychopath, right? A psychopath.”
With the success of The Invisible Man, Universal now has newfound momentum to continue to bring to life their Dark Universe, and it would be a smart move to keep Leigh Whannell as close to the project as possible.