Mike Fleming

A sequel to the horror hit Insidious is in the works, with Leigh Whannell returning to write the script and James Wan in talks to once again direct.  Jason Blum will produce through Blumhouse Productions and Brian Kavanaugh Jones, Oren Peli and Steven Schneider will be exec producers. Alliance Films is back as financier, and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions and Peter Schlessel’s FilmDistrict acquired U.S. rights.  FilmDistrict will distribute the film in the U.S.

The sequel news is hardly a shock, it is simply what happens when a $1.5 million budget horror film scares up nearly $100 million in worldwide grosses to become one of the most profitable films in recent memory. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne starred in the first installment, as parents of a demonically possessed kid. SPWA bought it at 2010 Toronto and FilmDistrict released it. Alliance will distribute the sequel in Canada, the UK (via its Momentum Pictures subsidiary) and Spain (via Aurum). SPWA has the rest of the world. Production begins this year and will be released in 2013. Wan and Whannel hatched the Saw franchise.

“Insidious was the most fun project I’ve ever worked on,” Whannell said in a statement.  “From start to finish it was an absolute joy—from the writing of the screenplay, all the way to the first screening of the film at the Toronto film festival.  I believe that James Wan and I achieved what we set out to do—create a horror film for horror fans…Both of us feel that we can mine more terror from the world we created and know that if we assemble every member of the original team, we will have an amazing continuation of the story for fans of the first film.” Wan and Whannell are repped by Paradigm and attorney David Fox.