After frequent collaborator Leigh Whannell’s success with last week’s The Invisible Man, Universal Pictures is teaming up with other modern horror master James Wan (The Conjuring) to develop a new monster movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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The film, which is being penned by longtime Supernatural writer/co-exec producer Robbie Thompson, will take inspiration from past Universal monster movies and follow a group of teens who learn that their neighbor is making a monster in his basement and must stop it once it gets loose.
Wan will not helm the project, but rather produce through his Atomic Monster banner. While being busy with the DC Extended Universe’s Aquaman, the Australian writer/director has built up his producing résumé with the Conjuring universe extensions The Nun, Annabelle: Creation and Comes Home and The Curse of La Llorona, as well as the horror hits Lights Out and Insidious: The Last Key.
The Atomic Monster Monster banner will see two new projects hit the big screen this year, including Malignant, in which he is returning as a director to the horror genre and is set to hit theaters on August 14, and the next installment in The Conjuring franchise, The Devil Made Me Do It, which is being helmed by La Llorona director Michael Chaves and is set to hit theaters on Sept. 11.
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Before they found their individual successes, Wan and Whannell created the long-running Saw franchise together, with the former crafting the story and directing the first installment while the latter starred in it and penned the second and third chapters. While Wan went on to launch the Conjuring universe, Whannell kept his Insidious franchise running for four installments, including making his directorial debut on the third chapter, and recently found an even bigger breakout hit with the new adaptation of The Invisible Man.
Originally planned as part of the failed Dark Universe that launched with the Tom Cruise vehicle The Mummy, Universal Pictures has course corrected to focus on filmmaker-driven projects, such as the Whannell hit, which has received wide acclaim from critics and audiences alike and grossed over $57 million in its opening weekend on a $7 million budget.
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