After over a decade of collaborating, Insidious 5‘s Patrick Wilson gets a major vote of confidence from producer James Wan. Wilson is returning to the horror franchise for the first time since 2013’s Insidious: Chapter 2, reprising his role as Lambert family patriarch Josh alongside Ty Simpkins as son Dalton and Rose Byrne as wife Renai. Insidious 5 will also see Wilson make his directorial debut on a script from Halloween Kills‘ Scott Teems, and one creative involved with the project is excited to see what Wilson is bringing to the fold.
While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss the killer doll movie M3GAN, James Wan opened up about next year’s Insidious 5. The producer offered a big vote of confidence for Patrick Wilson, who will be returning to both star in the sequel and make his directorial debut, with Wan even going so far as to compare Wilson to Insidious franchise creator and fellow longtime collaborator Leigh Whannell. See what Wan shared below:
Well, we all love Patrick. I’ve done one or two films with that guy. But I’m super excited for what Patrick’s doing with Insidious. One of the things I love best about working with Patrick Wilson is that we don’t actually talk about the movie that we are making on set. We geek out about all the movies that we loved growing up, because Patrick and I are roughly of the same generation. We’re just constantly geeking out about John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China and all these movies. Patrick reminds me a little bit of Leigh Whannell in that they are not just actors slash whatever; they are filmmakers as well. They’re film buffs, and being film buffs, they look at acting from the point of view of what the final film will be like. And so that actually helps inform them as filmmakers. So I’m always very excited when people like Leigh Whannell and Patrick Wilson want to jump behind the camera.
Insidious 5 Continues A Wan Tradition
Wilson getting behind the camera for Insidious 5 marks an exciting continuation of a James Wan tradition as the horror genre vet paves the way for a collaborator to get in the director’s chair. The franchise itself saw creator Leigh Whannell take the helm for Insidious: Chapter 3 in his directorial debut, having since gone on to helm 2018’s sci-fi action-thriller Upgrade and 2020’s The Invisible Man reboot, both of which scored widespread acclaim. Similarly, his shepherding of The Conjuring Universe has seen the likes of Michael Chaves and Gary Dauberman go from making their feature directorial debuts with The Curse of La Llorona and Annabelle Comes Home to moving up to even more well-known properties, including The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and Salem’s Lot.
Having produced the feature-length adaptation of Lights Out, Wan has also helped usher David F. Sandberg onto the list of directors going from the horror genre to superheroes, jumping from Annabelle: Creation to next year’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Given Wilson already has ties to the DC Universe with Wan’s Aquaman movies, it would be interesting to see if he can similarly make the leap to more blockbuster filmmaking following Insidious 5, should he want to do so. Even if he doesn’t elect to make that leap, Wan’s praise of Wilson’s work on Insidious 5 and comparison to Whannell should prove a promising sign for fans of the horror franchise.
Everything We Know About Insidious 5
Based on a story treatment from Whannell, Insidious 5 will see Wilson and Simpkins return as Josh and Dalton 10 years after the events of the original two films, with the two heading to drop off the younger Lambert at an ivy-covered university, only for their demons to return to haunt them both. At the time of writing, it’s unclear whether the film will see the returns of the fan-favorite Lipstick Demon from the first few Insidious movies, or if Whannell, Angus Sampson or Lin Shaye will be reprising their roles of Specs, Tucker and Elise in the film. Having wrapped filming in August, audiences will have to keep their eyes peeled for first looks at the sequel ahead of its July 7 release.
Source: THR