James Wan

47, from Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Artwork for Insidious: Chapter 3Image of James Wan

Biography

James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is a Malaysia-born Australian film director, screenwriter, producer, and comic book writer. He has primarily worked in the horror genre as the co-creator of the "Saw" and "Insidious" franchises and the creator of "The Conjuring" universe. Wan is also the founder of Atomic Monster, which has produced film and television projects.

After directing the micro-budget film "Stygian" (2000), Wan made his professional feature directorial debut with "Saw" (2004). The film was a hit and launched a franchise that has grossed more than $1 billion globally. Following a period of setbacks with the underperforming titles "Dead Silence" and "Death Sentence" (both 2007), Wan returned to commercial success with the PG-13 supernatural horror-fantasy "Insidious" (2010), and went on to direct "Insidious: Part 2" (2013) and to produce further sequels in the series. In between his two "Insidious" projects, Wan directed the more traditional supernatural horror film "The Conjuring" (2013), which achieved enormous critical and commercial success and spawned a sprawling set of sequels and spin-offs collectively known as The Conjuring Universe. Wan served as the director of "The Conjuring 2" (2016) while producing subsequent films in the franchise such as "Annabelle" (2014) and "The Nun" (2018). The Conjuring Universe is the second highest-grossing horror franchise at over $2 billion.

Outside of horror, Wan directed "Furious 7" (2015), the seventh installment in the "Fast & Furious" franchise, and the DC Extended Universe superhero film "Aquaman" (2018). Both grossed over $1 billion, making Wan the eighth director with two films to reach the milestone. He is the 20th highest-grossing director of all time as of 2021, with his films having grossed over $3.6 billion worldwide.

Timeline

2026Future projects

2025Future projects

2024Aged 47

  • Poster for Night Swim

    Producer

  • Poster for Salem's Lot

    Producer

2023Aged 46

  • Poster for Insidious: The Red Door

    Producer

  • Poster for The Nun II

    Characters

  • Poster for Saw X

    Characters

  • Poster for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

    Story

2022Aged 45

  • Poster for M3GAN

    Story

2021Aged 44

  • Poster for Mortal Kombat

    Producer

  • Poster for Spiral: From the Book of Saw

    Characters

  • Poster for The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

    Story

  • Poster for Malignant

    Story

  • Poster for There's Someone Inside Your House

    Producer

2020Aged 43

  • Poster for Faith & Fear: The Conjuring Universe

    Self

2019Aged 42

  • Poster for Going Deep Into the World of 'Aquaman'

    Self

  • Poster for Aquaman: Heroines of Atlantis

    Self

  • Poster for The Curse of La Llorona

    Producer

  • Poster for Annabelle Comes Home

    Story

2018Aged 41

  • Poster for Insidious: The Last Key

    Producer

  • Poster for The Nun

    Story

  • Poster for Aquaman

    Story

2017Aged 40

  • Poster for Annabelle: Creation

    Producer

  • Poster for Annabelle: Communion

    Story

  • Poster for Jigsaw

    Characters

2016Aged 39

  • Poster for The Conjuring 2

    Screenplay

  • Poster for Lights Out

    Producer

2015Aged 38

  • Poster for Insidious: Chapter 3

    Theater Director

  • Poster for Lavalantula

    Tour Bus Passenger

  • Poster for Game Changer: The Legacy of Saw

    Self

  • Poster for Demonic

    Producer

  • Poster for Furious 7

    Director

2014Aged 37

  • Poster for Annabelle

    Producer

2013Aged 36

  • Poster for The Conjuring

    Director

  • Poster for Insidious: Chapter 2

    Story

2011Aged 34

  • Poster for Insidious

    Editor

2010Aged 33

  • Poster for Saw 3D

    Characters

2009Aged 32

  • Poster for Saw VI

    Characters

2008Aged 31

  • Poster for Not Quite Hollywood

    Self

  • Poster for Saw V

    Characters

  • Poster for Doggie Heaven

    Editor

2007Aged 30

  • Poster for The Making of Dead Silence

    Self

  • Poster for Dead Silence

    Story

  • Poster for Death Sentence

    Director

  • Poster for Saw IV

    Characters

2006Aged 29

2005Aged 28

  • Poster for Hacking Away at Saw

    Self

  • Poster for Saw: Rebirth

    Characters

  • Poster for Saw II

    Characters

2004Aged 27

  • Poster for Saw

    Story

2003Aged 26

  • Poster for Saw

    Editor

1998Aged 21

  • Poster for Stygian

    Writer

Year unknown