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James Wan is an Australian film producer, screenwriter and film director of Malaysian Chinese descent.[2] He is widely known for directing the horror film Saw (2004) and creating Billy the Puppet. Wan has also directed Dead Silence and Death Sentence (both 2007), Insidious (2010), The Conjuring and Insidious: Chapter 2. He was the director of the 2015 film, Furious 7, which was released in April 3, 2015.

Biography[]

Before his success in the mainstream film industry, he made his first feature-length film, Stygian, with Shannon Young, which won "Best Guerrilla Film" at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF) in 2000.[3]

Since creating the franchise, Wan and Leigh Whannell have served as executive producers to the sequels Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV,[4] Saw V, Saw VI and Saw 3D: The Final Chapter.

The release of Saw 3D, complete with its subtitle, was to signify the completion of the franchise; however, Costas Mandylor, an actor in the seventh installment, revealed that multiple endings to the film had been shot and the series could continue depending on which was used. The sixth sequel continued the profit margin performance of the original film and earned USD136 million in the global market, based on a production budget of USD20 million, while all films in the series have grossed over USD100 million in the American market. In August, 2012, various online horror publications stated that a source at Lionsgate, the franchise's production company, had revealed intentions for an eighth Saw sequel, but it was at a "tinkering" stage at the time of the disclosure.[5][6][7]

In early 2013, Wan entered into negotiations with Universal Pictures to direct the seventh installment of the Fast and Furious action franchise after Justin Lin, who directed the previous four sequels, confirmed that he would not continue as director in January 2013. Wan was part of a directorial shortlist alongside Jeff Wadlow, Baltasar Kormákur and Harald Zwart.[8] A final confirmation that Wan would direct was revealed in April 2013,[9] with Lin being quoted: "It’s time for me to move on to other things and I’m thrilled that Universal and Neal have selected James Wan to lead the franchise into its new chapter."[10][11] The film, Furious 7, was released in April 2015. It became the most successful film in terms of box office revenues and critics reviews in the Fast and Furious franchise.[12][13]

On 20 October 2014, the Gary Maddox of The Sydney Morning Herald announced that Wan had agreed to direct the Conjuring 2 sequel as part of a significant long-term deal with New Line Cinema. Head of New Line, Toby Emmerich, explained that Wan is the sole director that the studio signed a deal with, as New Line considers Wan to be "a class of one".[14]

The original release date for the sequel was 23 October 2015, but, according to media reports published in October 2014, New Line delayed the release to 10 June 2016.[15] In June 2015, it was announced that Wan will direct both upcoming films Aquaman and Robotech.[16][17][18]

References[]

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