In the last decade, horror has seen a shift from the remakes as well as the abundance of haunted house films that plagued the 2000s and the genre has evolved into something that can only be described as “elevated horror”. These are horror films with an emotionally tragic heart and movies like The Witch, Hereditary, and Midsommar has highlighted this new wave of filmmaking. However, arguably this genre movement started with a seemingly normal little haunted house film Insidious directed by James Wan. Now, after a decade since this original modern classic’s release and 3 sequels later, Insidious 5 is about to enter production.
During the press junket for his new film Moonfall, series star Patrick Wilson told ScreenRant that the film is almost ready to start shooting. Wilson was asked if the horror sequel was moving forward and The Conjuring actor stated, “Yeah, we are. We're scouting locations now, and we start shooting in the spring.” This is great news as, since the announcement of the film’s development in late 2020, we really have not had any updates on the production of this sequel.
Even though Insidious has had 3 surprisingly quality sequels, this new film is particularly exciting because Wilson will make his directorial debut with this project, and it will see the return of his and Ty Simpkins’ father-son duo Josh and Dalton Lambert. The only other thing known about the sequel is that it picks up 10 years after the original with Dalton beginning college. The film has been written by Scott Teems, who recently co-wrote Halloween Kills, from an idea from series co-creator Leigh Whannell.
The Insidious franchise has been a cornerstone of the modern horror genre conversation with its unique gothic out of body haunted house aesthetic, anxiety-inducing musical score, fascinatingly spooky lore, and Wan's traumatizing visuals. While Wan is best known for Saw and The Conjuring franchise, Insidious made this creative filmmaker the hot genre director we know him as today while also making Blumhouse top of the genre food chain. It has been 11 years since the original and “The Further” dimension, which houses the franchise's most memorable scares, still terrifies audiences to this day. While the series has remained dormant since 2018’s Insidious: The Last Key and Wilson did make a brief appearance in that film, this will be the actor's first starring role in the franchise since 2013’s Insidious: Chapter 2.
Since then, Wilson has made a name for himself in the horror genre with films like In The Tall Grass and most famously as his role as Demonologist Ed Warren in The Conjuring franchise. While there is still no word of this legacy sequel keeping its 2022 release window or if other series' cast members like Rose Byrne or Lin Shaye will be returning, but it will just be great to see Wilson come back to this iconic horror franchise and continue the Lamberts' tragic story. We are sure to get more details on the film soon as Spring is right around the corner and for all the latest news on Insidious 5, stick with Collider.