James Wan and Leigh Whannell may have branched out to become successful filmmakers in a variety of genres, but the duo have left a lasting impression on 21st Century horror.
As well as co-creating Saw, with the former also spearheading the Conjuring universe and the latter relaunching the Universal Monsters series with The Invisible Man, Wan and Whannell spawned the Insidious franchise. The Furious 7 and Aquaman director helmed the first two installments, while his regular collaborator scripted all four and stepped behind the camera for the third.
Reviews have been generally mixed across the board for the low budget horror series, but Insidious is another one of the brands associated with Wan to do big business at the box office. The four entries have raked in over half a billion dollars globally on combined production costs of just $26 million, making it one of the most profitable enterprises in the extensive Blumhouse back catalogue.
The Last Key was released over two and a half years ago, but despite being announced just a month after the fourth installment hit theaters, the proposed fifth outing hasn’t seen any real sort of forward momentum. In a recent interview, though, Lin Shaye, who played a major role in every Insidious movie, admitted that she’d love the opportunity to return should it end up happening.
“I think everybody is so preoccupied with the horror of our own society, we’re in a horror film right now of sorts. There was some thought at one point that James had about another Insidious, but I’ve heard nothing. I think everybody’s preoccupied. I’m good with whatever, if we come back, I’m in The Further this time, so that will be different. It was a really beautiful arc for me to find as the character and in the storyline. Right now it’s all about The Call and I hope Insidious has provided me with a beautiful framework to remember right now. Now it’s in my memory and I would love it if there was another one, of course, but we’ll see.”
Unfortunately, the 76 year-old doesn’t sound too confident about her chances and many thought that the franchise had run out of gas by the time the credits rolled on The Last Key. Given the box office takings, maybe the long-rumored crossover with Blumhouse’s Sinister could give the flagging series a shot in the arm and lead to renewed creativity and success.