James Wan
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 $3.7 billion worldwide.
Most directed genres
Recurring actors
- Leigh Whannell 6
- Patrick Wilson 6
- Lin Shaye 3
- Amber Heard 2
- Andrew Astor 2
- Angus Sampson 2
- Barbara Hershey 2
- Dolph Lundgren 2
The career in numbers
- US$ 696 mi Total budget from 12 film(s) with data
- US$ 4.2 bi Total box office from 11 film(s) with data
- US$ 58 mi Average budget from 12 film(s) with data
- US$ 381 mi Average box office from 11 film(s) with data
- 7.0 Average rating from 12 film(s) with data
- 6.0× Return on investment from 11 film(s) with data
Budget and box office do not exist for every film in our records. Averages are computed over the films that carry the figure, and the count beside each one says how many.
Films directed
| Film | Year | Budget | Box office | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
|
2023 | US$ 205 mi | US$ 440 mi | 6.5 |
Malignant
|
2021 | US$ 40 mi | US$ 35 mi | 6.8 |
Aquaman
|
2018 | US$ 160 mi | US$ 1.2 bi | 6.9 |
The Conjuring 2
|
2016 | US$ 40 mi | US$ 323 mi | 7.3 |
Furious 7
|
2015 | US$ 190 mi | US$ 1.5 bi | 7.2 |
The Conjuring
|
2013 | US$ 13 mi | US$ 321 mi | 7.5 |
Insidious: Chapter 2
|
2013 | US$ 5 mi | US$ 162 mi | 6.7 |
Insidious
|
2011 | US$ 2 mi | US$ 100 mi | 7.0 |
Doggie Heaven
|
2008 | — | — | 5.1 |
Dead Silence
|
2007 | US$ 20 mi | US$ 22 mi | 6.5 |
Death Sentence
|
2007 | US$ 20 mi | US$ 17 mi | 6.8 |
Saw
|
2004 | US$ 1 mi | US$ 104 mi | 7.4 |
Saw
|
2003 | US$ 5,000 | — | 7.0 |
Stygian
|
1998 | — | — | 8.0 |
