James Wan
Encyclopedia
James Wan is a Malaysian-born Australian producer, screenwriter, and film director of Chinese heritage. He is widely known for directing the horror film
Saw
and creating Billy the puppet
. He also directed Dead Silence
, Death Sentence and Insidious
.
, Sarawak
, Malaysia of Chinese ethnicity. He was raised in Perth
, Western Australia from a young age. It was his dream to make films from the age of 11. He went on to study at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, completing his Bachelor of Arts degree.
Before becoming popular in the film industry, he made his first feature film Stygian with Shannon Young, which won 'Best Guerrilla Film' at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival in 2000.
He met future business partner Leigh Whannell
while studying at RMIT
. He would later go on to co-create and direct the 2004 horror film (and franchise), Saw
with the help of Whannell, who wrote the script. Wan and Whannell made a short version of the film to showcase the script. Whannell played the role of David in the short film, and the leading role of Adam in the feature film. The three producers who saw the short film and read Whannell's screenplay agreed to produce the film before Wan and Whannell even landed in Los Angeles. Wan and Whannell decided to forgo upfront salary in return for gross profits. Shot for a low US$1.2 million budget, the producers had a straight-to-DVD
release in mind. However, Saw was to become a surprise record breaking theatrical horror franchise, earning Wan and Whannell much more than they had originally predicted.
Since creating the franchise, Wan and Whannell have served as executive producers to the sequels Saw II
, Saw III
, Saw IV
, Saw V
, Saw VI
and Saw 3D. He has been busy creating other works with his film school partner Leigh Whannell. In 2007, he went on to broaden his filmography with another horror movie, Dead Silence
, and the action drama Death Sentence. Having worked on his last three films back to back, Wan told CraveOnline that he is ready for "a bit of time off just to chill... but at the same time I'm using this opportunity to write again." Wan also directed a trailer for the survival horror video game Dead Space
.
It has been announced that James' next film will be an adaptation of the graphic novel Fall Night, about a criminal sent to a Texas prison run by vampires. According to IMDB the film is titled 'Nightfall' instead of 'Fall Night', it is unclear which is the official title. Aswell as this, Leigh Whannell has stated that he and Wan are writing another project together called X Ray and described it as a film noir horror film.
It has been reported that James Wan's next project will be Spectre a supernatural thriller and will star Nicole Kidman.
Wan's current film, Insidious, premiered at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival and began its theatrical release in April of 2011.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
Saw
Saw (film)
Saw is a 2004 American independent horror film directed by James Wan. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannell, is based on a story by Wan and Whannell. The film stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung, Whannell and Tobin Bell...
and creating Billy the puppet
Billy (Saw)
Billy is a puppet that has appeared in the Saw films. It was used by the series' primary antagonist John Kramer, a.k.a. Jigsaw, to communicate with his test subjects by delivering recorded messages, often appearing on a television screen or occasionally in person to describe the details of the...
. He also directed Dead Silence
Dead Silence
Dead Silence is a 2007 horror film, directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell, the creators of Saw...
, Death Sentence and Insidious
Insidious (film)
Insidious is a 2011 American independent supernatural horror film written by Leigh Whannell, directed by James Wan, and starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, and Barbara Hershey. The story centers on a couple whose son inexplicably enters a comatose state and becomes a vessel for ghosts...
.
Life and career
Wan was born in KuchingKuching
Kuching , officially the City of Kuching, and formerly the City of Sarawak, is the capital and most populous city of the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is the largest city on the island of Borneo, and the fourth largest city in Malaysia....
, Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
, Malaysia of Chinese ethnicity. He was raised in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Western Australia from a young age. It was his dream to make films from the age of 11. He went on to study at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, completing his Bachelor of Arts degree.
Before becoming popular in the film industry, he made his first feature film Stygian with Shannon Young, which won 'Best Guerrilla Film' at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival in 2000.
He met future business partner Leigh Whannell
Leigh Whannell
Leigh Whannell is an Australian screenwriter, producer, and actor, best known for his work on the Saw franchise.-Life and career:...
while studying at RMIT
RMIT University
RMIT University is an Australian public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. It has two branches, referred to as RMIT University in Australia and RMIT International University in Vietnam....
. He would later go on to co-create and direct the 2004 horror film (and franchise), Saw
Saw (film)
Saw is a 2004 American independent horror film directed by James Wan. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannell, is based on a story by Wan and Whannell. The film stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung, Whannell and Tobin Bell...
with the help of Whannell, who wrote the script. Wan and Whannell made a short version of the film to showcase the script. Whannell played the role of David in the short film, and the leading role of Adam in the feature film. The three producers who saw the short film and read Whannell's screenplay agreed to produce the film before Wan and Whannell even landed in Los Angeles. Wan and Whannell decided to forgo upfront salary in return for gross profits. Shot for a low US$1.2 million budget, the producers had a straight-to-DVD
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
release in mind. However, Saw was to become a surprise record breaking theatrical horror franchise, earning Wan and Whannell much more than they had originally predicted.
Since creating the franchise, Wan and Whannell have served as executive producers to the sequels Saw II
Saw II
Saw II is a 2005 Canadian-American horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and co-written by Bousman and the first film's co-writer Leigh Whannell. It is a sequel to 2004's Saw and the second installment in the seven-part Saw film series...
, Saw III
Saw III
Saw III is a 2006 Canadian-American horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman from a screenplay by Leigh Whannell and story by James Wan and Whannell. Wan and Whannell directed and wrote Saw and Bousman wrote and directed Saw II. It is the third film in the seven-part Saw film series and stars...
, Saw IV
Saw IV
Saw IV is a 2007 Canadian-American horror film and midquel to 2006's Saw III. It was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by newcomers Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan and Thomas Fenton. The film was released in North America on October 26, 2007...
, Saw V
Saw V
Saw V is a 2008 Canadian-American horror film directed by David Hackl and written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan and stars Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor and Scott Patterson...
, Saw VI
Saw VI
Saw VI is a 2009 horror film directed by Kevin Greutert from a screenplay written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. It is the sixth installment of the seven–part Saw film series and stars Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Mark Rolston, Peter Outerbridge, and Shawnee Smith...
and Saw 3D. He has been busy creating other works with his film school partner Leigh Whannell. In 2007, he went on to broaden his filmography with another horror movie, Dead Silence
Dead Silence
Dead Silence is a 2007 horror film, directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell, the creators of Saw...
, and the action drama Death Sentence. Having worked on his last three films back to back, Wan told CraveOnline that he is ready for "a bit of time off just to chill... but at the same time I'm using this opportunity to write again." Wan also directed a trailer for the survival horror video game Dead Space
Dead Space (video game)
Dead Space is a survival horror third-person shooter video game, developed by EA Redwood Shores for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was made available on Steam on October 20, 2008...
.
It has been announced that James' next film will be an adaptation of the graphic novel Fall Night, about a criminal sent to a Texas prison run by vampires. According to IMDB the film is titled 'Nightfall' instead of 'Fall Night', it is unclear which is the official title. Aswell as this, Leigh Whannell has stated that he and Wan are writing another project together called X Ray and described it as a film noir horror film.
It has been reported that James Wan's next project will be Spectre a supernatural thriller and will star Nicole Kidman.
Wan's current film, Insidious, premiered at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival and began its theatrical release in April of 2011.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Director | Producer | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 2003 in film The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,... |
Saw (short film) Saw (2003 film) "Saw " is a nine-and-a-half-minute Australian short subject horror film released in 2003. It was directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell, who also starred in it. It was originally used to pitch their script for a full-length feature film Saw to various studios and actors. The... |
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| 2004 2004 in film The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol... |
Saw Saw (film) Saw is a 2004 American independent horror film directed by James Wan. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannell, is based on a story by Wan and Whannell. The film stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung, Whannell and Tobin Bell... |
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| 2005 2005 in film - Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005... |
Saw II Saw II Saw II is a 2005 Canadian-American horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and co-written by Bousman and the first film's co-writer Leigh Whannell. It is a sequel to 2004's Saw and the second installment in the seven-part Saw film series... |
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| 2006 2006 in film - Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006... |
Saw III Saw III Saw III is a 2006 Canadian-American horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman from a screenplay by Leigh Whannell and story by James Wan and Whannell. Wan and Whannell directed and wrote Saw and Bousman wrote and directed Saw II. It is the third film in the seven-part Saw film series and stars... |
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| 2007 2007 in film This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007... |
Dead Silence Dead Silence Dead Silence is a 2007 horror film, directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell, the creators of Saw... |
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| Death Sentence | ||||
| Saw IV Saw IV Saw IV is a 2007 Canadian-American horror film and midquel to 2006's Saw III. It was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by newcomers Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan and Thomas Fenton. The film was released in North America on October 26, 2007... |
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| 2008 2008 in film This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008... |
Saw V Saw V Saw V is a 2008 Canadian-American horror film directed by David Hackl and written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan and stars Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor and Scott Patterson... |
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| 2009 2009 in film The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note... |
Saw VI Saw VI Saw VI is a 2009 horror film directed by Kevin Greutert from a screenplay written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. It is the sixth installment of the seven–part Saw film series and stars Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Mark Rolston, Peter Outerbridge, and Shawnee Smith... |
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| 2010 2010 in film The year 2010 saw many new films released worldwide. 2010 saw a dramatic increase and prominence in the use of 3D-technology in filmmaking and film releases after the success of Avatar in the format, with releases such as Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, Jackass 3D, all animated films and... |
Saw 3D | |||
| Insidious Insidious (film) Insidious is a 2011 American independent supernatural horror film written by Leigh Whannell, directed by James Wan, and starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, and Barbara Hershey. The story centers on a couple whose son inexplicably enters a comatose state and becomes a vessel for ghosts... |
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| TBA | Fall Night/Nightfall | |||
| ТВА | House of Horror House of Horror House of Horror or House of Horrors may refer to:-In film and television:* House of Horrors, a 1946 low-budget horror film* Dr... |
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| ТВА | Spectrum Spectrum A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by... |