The Invisible Man Tracking for Opening Weekend to Rival The Mummy

When Tom Cruise’s The Mummy was released in 2017 it opened to dismal reviews and a $31 million weekend domestically, and with its failure to launch, killed all of the plans for Universal’s Dark Universe. Since then the studio has changed their plans for their classic monsters, opting instead for singular, filmmaker focused projects without worrying about connecting them as cinematic universe. The first of these will be this weekend’s The Invisible Man which according to Variety is tracking to open with over $20 million at the box office, but some sources say thanks to its strong word of mouth it could debut to over $30 million.

It would be easy to think that The Invisible Man opening to similar, or slightly lower, box office than The Mummy would be another sign for panic, but when you look at the numbers it’ll actually be a huge success. The Mummy was produced on a reported budget of $195 million, and even though it did well in the international box office it ended up losing the studio about $95 million according to Deadline.

The Invisible Man on the other hand hails from the Blumhouse model and was produced for $7 million, so if it manages to clear $20 million in its opening weekend it will have already cleared its production budget and likely caught up to its distribution and advertising expenses. The movie having an opening like that will also be great news for director Leigh Whannell who could have a new best opening. His previous movie Upgrade opened to $4.6 million and his directorial debut Insidious: Chapter 3 opened to $22.6 million.

As of this writing, The Invisible Man has a 91% review score on Rotten Tomatoes, with 80 reviews submitted. ComicBook.com‘s own Patrick Cavanaugh called the film “a rollercoaster ride of terror, quickly getting under your skin and refusing to let go even after the credits have rolled.”

In the upcoming film, trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy and brilliant scientist, Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) escapes in the dead of night and disappears into hiding, aided by her sister (Harriet Dyer), their childhood friend (Aldis Hodge) and his teenage daughter (Storm Reid). But when Cecilia’s abusive ex (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) commits suicide and leaves her a generous portion of his vast fortune, Cecilia suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of eerie coincidences turns lethal, threatening the lives of those she loves, Cecilia’s sanity begins to unravel as she desperately tries to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.

The Invisible Man will be revealed this Friday.