Johnny Depp is set to play The Invisible Man in a new Universal Pictures movie. Depp has reportedly signed up to star in the sci-fi thriller – which has been adapted from H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel – as scientist Griffin who discovers a formula that means he cannot be seen by other people but results in him going insane. The 52-year-old actor’s character – who famously wears a wide-brimmed hat – eventually can only be seen by others by wrapping himself in bandages.

In the book, Griffin arrives in an English village and takes up lodgings at a local inn, only venturing out at night, but he eventually runs out of money to pay his board and is suspected of committing a burglary and ordered to leave. Griffin flees and coerces a tramp called Thomas Marvel to become his assistant, but the pair fall out and Marvel reports him to the police, which sparks a manhunt for the invisible man.