Leigh Whannell’s offering was a low-budget, R-rated horror movie that just happened to offer a reinvention of a well-known piece of horror IP. The Invisible Man, which was absolutely a hit (rave reviews, scorching buzz and $124.5 million worldwide on a $9 million budget) before theaters closed, was the opposite approach. Universal’s “Dark Universe” was a one-and-done attempt, with Tom Cruise’s surprisingly lousy The Mummy emphasizing world-building and mythology over character and standalone entertainment value. You don’t have to see Ant-Man and the Wasp to enjoy Black Panther. That’s technically how Marvel mostly does it too. The post- Suicide Squad movies have been mostly standalone, but still mostly set within the realm of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman. DC Films, which has some of the most famous fictional characters in the world, initially struggled with their cinematic universe. Even the Star Wars brand couldn’t make Solo into a hit, while a $529 million-grossing Godzilla and a $569 million-grossing Kong: Skull Island couldn’t make Godzilla: King of the Monsters ($385 million) into a hit.

In contrast, Sony’s attempt to sell The Dark Tower as part of a Stephen King universe arguably caused the film to open below its already mediocre tracking. Meanwhile, the Transformers cinematic universe was merely threatened.

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