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James Wan

Directing

Born February 26, 1977 · Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Biography

James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is an Australian filmmaker. 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. The lattermost is the highest-grossing horror franchise at over $2 billion. Wan is also the founder of the film and television production company Atomic Monster. Beginning his career with the Saw franchise, Wan made his feature directorial debut with his first film in 2004. The franchise became commercially successful and grossed more than $1 billion globally. Following a period of setbacks, Wan found new success with the Insidious series, in which he directed the first film in 2010 and its 2013 sequel. The same year as the second Insidious, Wan directed the first Conjuring film to critical and commercial success. He served as the director of the second installment in 2016 and produced subsequent films in the franchise. Outside of horror, Wan directed Furious 7 (2015), the seventh installment of the Fast & Furious franchise, and the DC Extended Universe superhero films Aquaman (2018) and its sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023). Both Furious 7 and Aquaman grossed over $1 billion, making Wan the eighth director with two films to reach the milestone. He is the 16th highest-grossing director of all time as of 2021, with his films having grossed over $3.7 billion worldwide. Description above from the Wikipedia article James Wan, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Awards & recognition

  • Asia's Most Influential Malaysia · 2021

Filmography50+ titles

Lee Cronin's The Mummy

2026Producer

Mortal Kombat II

2026Producer

The Conjuring

2013Director

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

2021Producer, Story

Swamp Thing

2019Executive Producer

Saw

2004Director, Story

Superpowered: The DC Story

as Self (archive footage)

MacGyver

2016Director, Executive Producer

The Conjuring 2

2016Director, Producer, Screenplay, Story

56 Days

2026Executive Producer

M3GAN 2.0

2025Characters, Producer

Saw X

2023Characters, Executive Producer

Archive 81

2022Executive Producer

Furious 7

2015Director

Teacup

2024Executive Producer

M3GAN

2022Producer, Story

Mortal Kombat

2021Producer

Backrooms

2026Producer

The Conjuring: Last Rites

2025as Wedding Guest

Aquaman

2018Director, Story

Insidious

2010Director, Editor

Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!

2008as Self

Death Sentence

2007Director

Malignant

2021Director, Producer, Story

Insidious: Chapter 2

2013Director, Story

The Nun II

2023Characters, Producer

Annabelle: Creation

2017Producer

Saw II

2005Characters, Executive Producer

The Copenhagen Test

2025Executive Producer

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

2023Director, Producer, Story

Insidious: The Red Door

2023Producer

Dead Silence

2007Director, Story

I Know What You Did Last Summer

2021Executive Producer

Annabelle Comes Home

2019Producer, Story

Lights Out

2016Producer

Saw III

2006Characters, Executive Producer, Story

True Haunting

2025Executive Producer

Insidious: The Last Key

2018Producer

Insidious: Chapter 3

2015as Theater Director

Saw VI

2009Characters, Executive Producer

Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles

2022Executive Producer

Jigsaw

2017Characters, Executive Producer

Saw V

2008Characters, Executive Producer

Saw IV

2007Characters, Executive Producer

Aquaman: King of Atlantis

Executive Producer

The Monkey

2025Producer

Salem's Lot

2024Producer

Saw 3D

2010Characters, Executive Producer

Spiral

2021Characters, Executive Producer

The Nun

2018Producer, Second Unit Director, Story