While some big-name producers just slap their brand on a product and take a paycheck, it’s well known in the horror circle that James Wan does anything but. While Wan is a notable director that got his start with Lionsgate’s Saw, he has since started his own production company, Atomic Monster, which oversees all of the films within the Conjuring universe. After directing The Conjuring, Wan would produce the first spinoff, Annabelle, which John R. Leonetti would helm. Wan, according to several sources close to Bloody Disgusting, actually had a hand in directing several scares that were filmed during a series of reshoots. The point is, he cares about the brand and works hand-in-hand with the filmmakers to bring high quality horror to theaters.
With this, it comes as no surprise that Wan also got his hands dirty on New Line’s next Conjuring spinoff, The Nun, directed by Corin Hardy. What is surprising is how candid Hardy is about it.
“Very excitingly, James Wan was my second unit director in a little bit of additional photography,” he revealed to EW. “It is funny, but we did some additional photography, and you’re always pushing for double what you really can afford, time- or budget-wise. I said, ‘I want to do all of this, but if we’re going to do it, we really need to run two units.’ James is a full-on, hands-on guy and he was like, ‘Anything I can do of service!’ It was like, ‘I really want to take you up on that.’ So, there were nights when he was shooting a section in the forest and I was shooting interiors.”
This is wild news considering how busy Wan has been. Not only is he in the middle of completing Aquaman, which he directed, but also The Curse of La LLorona for New Line. He’s also prepping the produce the new “Swamp Thing” pilot at DC, while also developing both The Crooked Man and The Nurse for New Line. He’s also behind the forthcoming remake of Arachnophobia and the killer robot doll techno-thriller M3GAN with Blumhouse. I want whatever energy drink he’s downing.
