Never bet against James Wan churning out another stellar horror film series.
The acclaimed filmmaker has already struck gold with such franchises as Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring, and now his latest genre effort–Malignant–may also spawn a sequel or two, according to a report on screenrant.com. Fans won’t have long to wait to see if Malignant is franchise-worthy–the film hits theaters and HBO Max this Friday, Sept. 10.
Though Wan said in a recent interview that, with the “hard-R” Malignant, he “set out to just make this movie,” his creations seem to take on a life of their own and multiply. “Malignant could become a franchise,” Wan continued. “Ultimately, anything can become a franchise. They will find a way.”
Wan said that when he and Leigh Whannell made Saw, “we were like, ‘Jigsaw gets up and he shuts the door. The end.’ Then when the movie did so well, the producers and studio were like, ‘Guys, we have to make another one.'”
The director added that when he makes a film, “I do think of a bigger umbrella story. I’m always just telling a section of this bigger story.”
Wan’s track record in this area is pretty impressive. Saw has already given birth to eight sequels (with a ninth on the way), the fifth Insidious movie is in post-production and The Conjuring franchise is at eight and counting.
Malignant–helmed by Wan from a screenplay by Akela Cooper–stars Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Jake Abel, Michole Briana White, Jacqueline McKenzie, Ingrid Bisu and McKenna Grace. The film follows Madison (Wallis), a woman who is “paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment grows as she discovers that these waking dreams are terrifying realities.”
Keep reading Horror News Network for the reaction to Malignant–and the next James Wan film creation.
