Insidious Sequel Confirmed

After the success of Insidious, a sequel seemed likely. The movie earned $97 million worldwide with a production budget of only $1.5 million. Sequel rumors have been persistent since the release of Insidious, but a new report confirms that it is officially moving forward this year.

Deadline reports that writer Leigh Whannell is returning and director James Wan is currently in talks to direct. Paranormal Activity's Jason Blum and Oren Peli will return as producers. Production is expected to begin this year and the sequel will hit theaters in 2013.

Leigh Whannell issued the following statement: “Insidious was the most fun project I’ve ever worked on... 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… So it is with great excitement that we announce our commitment to a second installment of this story. 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.”

The big question here is what does this mean for James Wan's upcoming slate of projects. He's currently preparing The Conjuring for New Line and the casting process is currently underway. It it seems likely that The Conjuring will move forward before an Insidious sequel, but we'll provide an update when we know more.