James Wan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
James Wan
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Wan in 2019
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| Born | 26 February 1977 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
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| Nationality | Australian | ||||||||||||||||
| Education | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (BA) | ||||||||||||||||
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| Years active | 1998–present | ||||||||||||||||
| Spouse(s) |
Ingrid Bisu
(m. 2019) |
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 溫子仁 | ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 温子仁 | ||||||||||||||||
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James Wan (born February 26, 1977) is an Australian filmmaker. He is well-known for directing and producing scary movies. He helped create the Saw and Insidious movie series. He also created The Conjuring Universe, which is the highest-earning horror movie series ever, making over $2 billion! James Wan also started his own movie and TV company called Atomic Monster.
James Wan directed his first big movie, Saw, in 2004. The Saw movies became very popular and earned more than $1 billion around the world. After a few years, Wan found new success with the Insidious series. He directed the first Insidious movie in 2010 and its sequel in 2013. In the same year as the second Insidious film, Wan directed the first Conjuring movie. It was a big hit with both critics and audiences. He also directed the second Conjuring movie in 2016 and produced many other films in the series.
Beyond horror, Wan directed Furious 7 (2015), which is part of the Fast & Furious action series. He also directed the superhero movies Aquaman (2018) and its sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) for the DC Extended Universe. Both Furious 7 and Aquaman earned over $1 billion each. This made Wan one of only a few directors to have two films reach that huge milestone. As of 2021, his movies had earned over $3.7 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-earning directors of all time.
Contents
Early Life and Education
James Wan was born on February 26, 1977, in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. His parents were Chinese-Malaysian. When he was seven, James and his family moved to Perth, Western Australia.
He went to West Leederville Primary School and then Willetton Senior High School in Perth. Later, he attended Lake Tuggeranong College in Canberra. After that, Wan moved to Melbourne to study at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in media in 1999.
James Wan's Filmmaking Career
Starting Out: 2004–2006
Before 2003, James Wan and his friend, filmmaker Leigh Whannell, started writing a horror movie script. They got ideas from their own dreams and fears. After finishing the script, they wanted to film a small part of it to show to movie studios. This small film later became known as Saw.
With help from Charlie Clouser, who wrote music for the film, and a few actors, Wan and Whannell shot the short film with a very small budget. Whannell also decided to act in the film as Adam Stanheight.
When the full Saw movie came out, it was a huge success everywhere. It earned $55 million in America and $48 million in other countries, totaling over $103 million worldwide. This was much more than the movie cost to make! Because of this, the studio quickly approved a sequel, Saw II, and then the rest of the Saw series. The Saw films have become one of the highest-earning horror series ever. James Wan directed the first Saw (2004) and helped write Saw III (2006). He and Whannell have also been executive producers for many other Saw movies.
Facing Challenges: 2007–2009
In 2007, Wan directed two more movies. The first was a horror film called Dead Silence. Wan and Whannell later said that making this movie was not a good experience for them. Dead Silence stars Australian actor Ryan Kwanten. It's about a legend where a ghost of a ventriloquist, Mary Shaw, takes the tongue of anyone who screams when she is near. Wan described it as a "creepy doll movie," like old Twilight Zone episodes. The film earned over $22 million, which was a little more than it cost to make.
Wan's second movie in 2007 was Death Sentence. This was an action drama film about a father (Kevin Bacon) seeking revenge after his son is killed by a gang. Whannell played a small role as one of the gang members. Wan called it a "raw and gritty, 70s styled revenge thriller." The movie earned $17 million, more than its $10 million budget.
After working on three movies in a row, Wan decided to take a break to write new ideas. In 2008, he directed a trailer for the video game Dead Space.
Big Comeback: 2010–2013
Wan returned to horror movies with Insidious. It was shown at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival and was quickly bought by Sony Pictures. The movie came out in American theaters in April 2011 and did very well. It stars Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, and Barbara Hershey. Wan wanted to make Insidious very different from the gory Saw movies. He said he wanted to make a film with "lots of creepy, bizarre moments."
Wan's next movie was The Conjuring (2013). This film was based on the real-life stories of Ed and Lorraine Warren, a couple who investigated strange, paranormal events. The movie focused on their famous case about a witch's curse on a family farm in Rhode Island. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga played the Warrens. The movie was filmed in North Carolina in early 2012. It was released in July 2013 and was a huge success, earning $319.5 million.
After The Conjuring, Wan directed a sequel to Insidious. This movie, Insidious: Chapter 2, was also written by Leigh Whannell, and the original cast returned. Filming started in January 2013, and the movie was released on September 13, 2013. It earned over $161 million worldwide, even though it had a small budget of $5 million.
Expanding His Work: 2014–Present
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In early 2013, James Wan started talking with Universal Pictures about directing the seventh movie in the Fast & Furious action series. He was chosen to direct Furious 7, which came out in April 2015. It became the most successful film in the series, earning over $1.516 billion globally.
Wan then made a deal to direct The Conjuring 2 for New Line Cinema. The studio saw him as a very special director. The film was released on June 10, 2016, and was highly praised and very successful. In the same month, Wan started his own production company, Atomic Monster, at New Line Cinema. Through this company, he creates and produces movies in science fiction, horror, and comedy. Films like The Conjuring 2 and Lights Out were produced by his company.
He also produced Annabelle, a spin-off movie from The Conjuring. This movie was a prequel to the 2013 film. It was very profitable, costing $6.5 million to make and earning over $256 million. As part of The Conjuring series, he also produced Annabelle: Creation (2017), The Nun (2018), and Annabelle Comes Home (2019). Wan helped write The Nun and Annabelle Comes Home.
In 2018, Wan directed the DC Extended Universe superhero movie Aquaman. This film earned over $1.148 billion worldwide. It became the highest-earning DCEU film and the highest-earning film based on a DC Comics character internationally. In 2019, Wan helped develop a TV series based on the character Swamp Thing.
On August 7, 2015, Wan agreed to produce New Line Cinema's 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot. In February 2018, Wan was confirmed to be an executive producer for an animated show based on Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo comic book series. This animated series, called Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, premiered on Netflix in 2022. In 2021, Wan directed the horror film Malignant. He also co-produced the movie There's Someone Inside Your House for Netflix. Also in 2021, Wan was an executive producer for the TV show I Know What You Did Last Summer for Amazon Prime.
In November 2022, it was announced that Wan's company, Atomic Monster, was planning to join with Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions. Both companies would still work as separate labels, keeping their own creative freedom.
Upcoming Projects
In 2018, it was reported that Wan and producers Roy Lee and Larry Sanitsky were working on a movie based on the Stephen King novel The Tommyknockers. Universal Pictures later won the rights to make the film. Wan will produce the movie, and he might direct it too.
In March 2020, it was announced that Wan was working with Universal Pictures to produce a modern remake of Frankenstein.
Wan is also involved in a TV series based on the Italian horror comic series Dylan Dog. He said in December 2022 that the series was still being developed.
Wan will produce a horror film called Border Patrol with Screen Gems. Johannes Roberts will direct this movie.
In February 2023, A24 announced that they were working on a movie based on the Backrooms videos, with Kane Parsons directing. Wan will be one of the producers for this film.
In October 2023, Disney Branded Television announced a live-action reboot of Gargoyles, with Wan as an executive producer.
Unreleased Projects
In 2009, a project called X Ray was announced, which was a new "film noir/action project" by Whannell and Wan. However, no more news about it has been shared. It was also announced that Wan would direct a movie based on the graphic novel Nightfall, about a criminal in a prison run by vampires. But this project did not happen.
In 2012, Disney was reportedly planning a remake of The Rocketeer, and Wan was considered to direct it, but the movie was never made. Similarly, Wan was in talks to direct a movie based on the 1980s TV series MacGyver, but he had to leave due to other work. Instead, a new TV series called MacGyver premiered in September 2016. Wan was an executive producer for this series and directed the first episode.
A horror spin-off of Aquaman called The Trench was being developed, with Wan producing. However, it was canceled in April 2021.
Personal Life
On June 22, 2019, James Wan got engaged to Romanian actress Ingrid Bisu. They announced it on his Instagram account. They got married on November 4, 2019.
James Wan's Filmography
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Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Feature Films
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Stygian | Yes | Yes | No | Co-directed and co-written with Shannon Young; shown at festivals, not released widely |
| 2004 | Saw | Yes | Story | No | |
| 2005 | Saw II | No | No | Executive | |
| 2006 | Saw III | No | Story | Executive | |
| 2007 | Dead Silence | Yes | Story | No | |
| Death Sentence | Yes | No | No | ||
| Saw IV | No | No | Executive | ||
| 2008 | Saw V | No | No | Executive | |
| 2009 | Saw VI | No | No | Executive | |
| 2010 | Insidious | Yes | No | No | Also editor |
| Saw 3D | No | No | Executive | ||
| 2013 | The Conjuring | Yes | No | No | |
| Insidious: Chapter 2 | Yes | Story | No | ||
| 2014 | Annabelle | No | No | Yes | |
| 2015 | Demonic | No | No | Yes | |
| Furious 7 | Yes | No | No | ||
| Insidious: Chapter 3 | No | No | Yes | Also had a small role as "Theater Director" | |
| 2016 | The Conjuring 2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Lights Out | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2017 | Annabelle: Creation | No | No | Yes | |
| Jigsaw | No | No | Executive | ||
| 2018 | Insidious: The Last Key | No | No | Yes | |
| The Nun | No | Story | Yes | Also second unit director | |
| Aquaman | Yes | Story | No | ||
| 2019 | The Curse of La Llorona | No | No | Yes | |
| Annabelle Comes Home | No | Story | Yes | ||
| 2021 | Mortal Kombat | No | No | Yes | |
| Spiral: From the Book of Saw | No | No | Executive | ||
| The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It | No | Story | Yes | ||
| Malignant | Yes | Story | Yes | ||
| There's Someone Inside Your House | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2022 | M3GAN | No | Story | Yes | |
| 2023 | Insidious: The Red Door | No | No | Yes | |
| The Nun II | No | No | Yes | ||
| Saw X | No | No | Executive | ||
| Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom | Yes | Story | Yes | ||
| 2024 | Night Swim | No | No | Yes | |
| 'Salem's Lot | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2025 | The Monkey | No | No | Yes | |
| M3GAN 2.0 | No | No | Yes | ||
| The Conjuring: Last Rites |
No | Story | Yes | Post-production | |
| Mortal Kombat II |
No | No | Yes | ||
| 2026 | SOULM8TE |
No | Story | Yes | |
| The Mummy |
No | No | Yes | ||
| Other Mommy |
No | No | Yes | Filming | |
| N/A | The Backrooms |
No | No | Yes |
Short Films
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Editor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Saw | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also known as Saw 0.5 |
| 2008 | Doggie Heaven | Yes | Creator | Yes | Made for Xbox Live; also called "Woof!" |
Television Shows
| Year | Series | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Executive Producer |
Notes | ||
| 2016–2021 | MacGyver | Yes | Yes | Directed the episode "The Rising" |
| 2019 | Swamp Thing | No | Yes | |
| 2021 | Aquaman: King of Atlantis | No | Yes | |
| I Know What You Did Last Summer | No | Yes | ||
| 2022 | Archive 81 | No | Yes | |
| Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles | No | Yes | ||
| 2024 | Teacup | No | Yes | |
| TBA | 56 Days |
No | Yes | |
| TBA | The Copenhagen Test |
No | Yes |
Awards and Nominations
| Award | Year | Nominated work | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturn Awards | 2019 | Aquaman | Best Director | Nominated | |
| Tony Awards | 2025 | Death Becomes Her | Best Musical | Pending |
See also
In Spanish: James Wan para niños
