Insidious: The Red Door (2023) Production Notes

In Insidious: The Red Door, the horror franchise’s original cast returns for the final chapter of the Lambert family’s terrifying saga. To put their demons to rest once and for all, Josh (Patrick Wilson) and a college-aged Dalton (Ty impkins) must go deeper into The Further than ever before, facing their family’s dark past and a host of new and more horrifying terrors that lurk behind the red door.

Please note: Some production notes may contain spoilers.

In Insidious: The Red Door, the horror franchise’s original cast returns for the final chapter of the Lambert family’s terrifying saga. To put their demons to rest once and for all, Josh (Patrick Wilson) and a college-aged Dalton (Ty Simpkins) must go deeper into The Further than ever before, facing their family’s dark past and a host of new and more horrifying terrors that lurk behind the red door.

The original cast from Insidious is back with Patrick Wilson (also making his directorial debut), Ty Simpkins, Rose Byrne and Andrew Astor. Also starring Sinclair Daniel and Hiam Abbass. Produced by Jason Blum, Oren Peli, James Wan, and Leigh Whannell. The screenplay is written by Scott Teems from a story by Leigh Whannell and Scott Teems, based on characters created by Leigh Whannell.

Screen Gems and Stage 6 Films present, Blumhouse presents, an Oren Peli production, Insidious: The Red Door. Starring Ty Simpkins, Patrick Wilson, Sinclair Daniel, Hiam Abbass, and Rose Byrne. Directed by Patrick Wilson. Screenplay by Scott Teems. Story by Leigh Whannell and Scott Teems Based on characters created by Leigh Whannell. Produced by Jason Blum, Oren Peli, James Wan, and Leigh Whannell. The executive producers are Steven Schneider, Ryan Turek, Charles Layton, and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones. The director of photography is Autumn Eakin. The production designer is Adam Reamer. Edited by Derek Ambrosi and Michel Aller, ACE. The costume designer is Dajia Milan. Music by Joseph Bishara. Casting by Terri Taylor, CSA and Ally Conover.

Insidious: The Red Door will be released in theaters worldwide beginning on July 5, 2023.

IN THE SILENCE OF YOUR ROOM…

When last we met the Lambert family, at the end of Insidious: Chapter 2, astral projectors Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Dalton (Ty Simpkins) had survived multiple trips into The Further. Dalton had been kidnapped by a demon… Josh had rescued him, only to be trapped in The Further while a ghost possesses his body in our world… that ghost, in Josh’s body, had rampaged through his house, trying to kill his family… and Dalton had ventured back into The Further to find his real father and bring him back.

“Alongside James Wan, we went to some crazy places in the Insidious movies, but I think the reason they connected was that we started with a loving family,” says Jason Blum, who produces the franchise. “Just about everyone who starts a family does it with the best of intentions, hoping to create that warm, comforting, safe space with the people we love – and then, just about all of us discover that most families are complicated in one way or another. For some of us, that means years of therapy. For others, it means fighting a demon in a nightmare dreamscape.”

Anybody who goes through what Josh and Dalton experienced would want to forget all of that, and Josh and Dalton are no exception: they were hypnotized to forget their gift – or curse – of astral projection. “After the second film, I felt there was nothing more to be done or said or explored with the Lambert family,” says Wilson, who returns as Josh and directs Insidious: The Red Door. “I had saved my son, been saved myself, been possessed; I had gone through just about everything you can do in a horror movie. The biggest question that I asked, and that I wanted to pose to the audience, was what happens to a family after ten years, when you’ve been hypnotized in order to forget your family trauma?

“In hindsight, that’s probably not the healthiest way to deal with trauma: ‘It didn’t happen, you’ll forget this.’ I wanted to unpack that,” Wilson continues.

The story picks up as the original cast reunites for the third chapter in the family’s saga and fifth film in the franchise, following two prequels. Ten years after the events of the second film, Josh and Renai (Rose Byrne) have divorced, as Josh struggles to piece together a life that seems to have major holes he can’t fill. Dalton, now a young adult, is heading off to an East Coast art college, and has a strained relationship with his father. “It’s stilted because of the events that have happened, and they don’t really know why. They have missing chapters – holes in their memory – and there’s resentment from Dalton’s side. Two men who can’t quite express their desire to make their relationship better because they don’t know where it went wrong. And yet they’re tied together in more ways than one, and Insidious fans know exactly what that means.”

Wilson says the time was right to take the helm of his first feature film. “I have wanted to direct a film for a number of years,” he says. “In trying to find the right story, something that was personal to me, I hadn’t really entertained the idea of doing an Insidious movie, but when it was presented to me, it felt like an incredible gift. I deeply care about this franchise, and I knew I would be protected – that Blumhouse believed in me as an actor and as a person, and that they would gather the best team they could for me. And James Wan and I have discussed filmmaking for a number of years.”

In directing for the first time, Wilson says that it was Wan – his Insidious, Conjuring, and Aquaman director – who set the mold by setting an example. “The one thing that James would tell me over and over was, ‘Make it yours. It’s your movie. What story do you want to tell? You’re the one who’s going to be living with it.’ You better have some passion and understanding for the story you want to tell.”

“I was thrilled to hear Patrick wanted to continue the journey of Insidious as a director,” says Wan. “I’ve gotten to know Patrick very well over the years of collaboration, and I know what a film buff he is. He is extremely knowledgeable about cinema and its craft. We would geek out over movies all the time in between our setups, and making movie-references on set became our shorthand. So it felt right that he was making the transition into directing, and I couldn’t be happier that he’s doing it with the Insidious franchise.”

Ultimately, Wilson knew that directing his first film would be a learning experience – as it should be. Citing all the different directors he’s worked with he says, “They’re so different in the way they approach it, and there’s no one way. That’s what I love about this business, and what I love about directors. There are so many ways to get your film made. So my goal was to capitalize on my strengths, what excites me, what interests me, what I’m passionate about. I don’t quite know my style – I think I’m still finding my own style. I’m not so bold to think I’ve figured it out. I’m learning – I’m in a constant state of learning.”

Wilson says that Leigh Whannell, who provided the story for the film along with Scott Teems and returns to play the role of Specs, was also able to give key insight. “In some ways, Leigh was even more helpful than James about what we might do, because Leigh stepped in to direct the third Insidious film. He knows what it’s like to be handed the keys to the franchise,” he says. “He had great advice – how to make it your own, how you make it different, when you can do that, when you can’t.”

“Patrick had a very strong vision for the film, and knew the direction of where he wanted to take this Lambert family saga,” says Wan. “That made me really excited, since he’d be returning to play the character he played in the first two films. He’s building on the world we had created together whilst adding his own take to it. We talked and discussed about a wide range of things — story, characters, tone, scares, new villain, furthering the Further.”

…IN THE DARKNESS OF YOUR DREAMS…

For Wilson – the Broadway star turned Hollywood’s Scream King, per the New York Times – directing an Insidious film taps into the deeply personal aspects of acting that have defined his career. “I love horror. It’s fun for me,” he says. “It’s exciting to play an ordinary character in an extraordinary situation. A very normal family – and all of a sudden, they have this crazy trauma! He travels into another dimension and has to fight a demon! It can go as crazy as you want it to, if you start from a place of real emotion. I like pushing myself, whether it's physically, or emotionally, or creating tension, or finding humor in the dark moments, or darkness in the light moments.”

That idea – balancing light and dark – became the central theme of the movie, according to Wilson. “Dealing with trauma, dealing with light and dark and the balance, and the art of the story – all of these seeds that were sown in the first film that now come to fruition,” he says. “Some blossom, some ripen, and some spoil.”

At the center of the film is Dalton, played by Ty Simpkins – reprising the role he played as a child actor in Insidious and Insidious: Chapter 2. Wilson’s history with Simpkins goes back even further. “Ty also played my character’s son in Little Children, so I’ve known him since he was three years old,” says Wilson. “This is the biggest role and the most heavy lifting that he’s had to do, but because I’ve known him for so long, I knew I would feel comfortable pushing him, and I was confident that we could get there, and we did. I was excited for that challenge.”

“I love the fact that we were able to bring the original cast back together to bring the Lamberts’ saga to a close,” says Blum. “Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, of course, but also Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, and Andrew Astor. Getting to see how the cast has aged – especially the actors who were children and have grown into young men – underscores the heart of the story for me: that this is a family finding their way as they move through their lives.”

Reuniting the cast became a central pivot point of Wilson’s direction of the film – his reason for wanting to do it, and later, a driving force in his vision for the film.

Wilson relied on the advice of two of his previous directors. “Both Joel Schumacher and Mike Nichols would say the same thing – ‘80% of directing is casting,’” he says. “The point is well-made: you want to find people that you trust. I was excited for that. There are a lot of unknowns in directing your first film, but I’ve worked with enough younger actors – whether they’re elementary school kids, or students at Carnegie Mellon University, or workshops along the way, or film classes, or musical theater classes – that I knew I’d be comfortable in that department.”

At the same time, any director also wants to make his film visually interesting, and by bringing the original cast back together, Wilson saw a way to build on and expand a startling visual idea James Wan had brought to Insidious: Chapter 2. In that film, Wan replays a scene from Insidious, showing it from a new point of view as Josh tries to navigate his home from The Further. “What a gift to weave yourself in with moments of yourself from years ago,” says Wilson. “I started to scour through the other movies, specifically Insidious 2, looking for angles of old shots in both the movie and in dailies. There are one or two shots specifically that looked like a POV. And I thought, I can do the reverse of that and show that character in that room.”

In this way, Wilson calls back to the first two films. “I wanted the movie to feel like it closes out the Lambert trilogy – if you’ve seen the first two movies, you get a feeling for them – but I’ve shown it to people who know nothing of the Insidious franchise, and I know, you don’t need to see those movies to understand.”

…YOU MUST ONLY THINK OF ME…

The story Wilson settled on for Insidious: The Red Door calls on his own past as a student at conservatory – how artists explore their true selves to know what kind of artist they want to be. “When I was working with Leigh Whannell and Scott Teems in crafting the story, it made sense for Dalton to be an artist, because art was such an important part of the first movie,” says Wilson. “So this college should be an art school, and he should be pushed to get to the core of who he is. That’s really what a conservatory or an art program is about – finding your own voice as an artist.”

Because Dalton is in art school, Wilson had a chance to bring the film’s central metaphor to the fore. “I really doubled down on the art – what chiaroscuro is, and how Goya used it; how these artists really had to balance the light and dark in their lives, and how you need them both. After all, when does light shine brightest? In the dark.”

As soon as he gets to college, Dalton meets Chris, a funny, high-spirited young woman with whom he forms an instant connection. As Dalton begins a new life – as an adult, but also restarting his astral projections – Chris is by his side as a friend and confidante.

Playing the role is actress Sinclair Daniel, a recent Drama graduate of NYU. As much as her innate acting ability, that fact put Daniel over the top. “Being in a horror film is not easy, because of the acting demands. That’s especially true for a role like Chris – she has to be the eyes and ears of the audience, our comic relief, our leading lady, the ballast, the foil for Dalton, and she goes through some harrowing moments herself. And she has to be young – college age,” notes Wilson. “In addition, a horror movie isn’t easy to shoot. You don’t have months of rehearsals and you’re typically only doing a few takes per setup; to be blunt, you’ve got to bring it. Sinclair not only was a fantastic actress, but because she had come out of theater school, I could talk the acting language with her very easily and she would get it. She’s really great.”

At college, Dalton takes the class of an intimidating professor who challenges her young artists to explore the light and dark sides of their personalities – a challenge which leads Dalton back into The Further. Wilson says that it seems like every young artist has a teacher who pushes them out of their comfort zones to develop their art. “Part of the reason that I shaped the story around an art school is because I know what it’s like to go to a conservatory,” says Wilson, “what it’s like to get to the truth of your art and who you are as an artist and who you are as a person. If you’re closed off person, you’re probably not going to be the most versatile actor.”

It was useful, he says, to have a character who pushes Dalton that way. And just to be sure, he got a second opinion. “I ran some of the role by my friend Ricky Mujica, who did all the artwork – all of the paintings and drawings in the film, and he said, ‘Yeah, I had that teacher.’”

In the role, Wilson cast “Succession” star Hiam Abbass. How’d he land such a coveted actress? “I had an in,” laughs Wilson, whose wife, Dagmara Dominczyk, is Abbass’s costar on “Succession.” When Wilson was casting the role, Abbass had just done a role in a horror film, and when they ran into each other at an event, she started picking his brain. “When actors and actresses start to do horror films, they’ll sometimes talk to me as someone who’s done it,” he explains. “It’s fun for an actor to play these big, melodramatic scenes – it’s a lot to chew on. So I knew she was game.”

“It was lovely to have Hiam. She brings such a different energy,” Wilson continues. “She played the role so differently than what’s on the page – it was really fascinating, because she made her much warmer than I had imagined. It was a whole other take on her, which I loved.”

…THERE CAN BE NO IN BETWEEN

Wilson is among a handful of artists who have followed James Wan from production to production – through the Insidious, Conjuring, and Aquaman franchises. Another is Joseph Bishara, the franchise’s composer and the on-camera portrayer of the Lipstick Demon.

“Fewer things get me more excited than introducing people to Joe,” says Wilson. “I’ll say, ‘Oh, yeah, he writes the score to Insidious,’ ‘Oh, cool.’ ‘And he’s also the red-faced demon.’ ‘WHAT?!’ It’s basically if John Williams had played Darth Vader.”

As a result, Bishara was one of the first people Wilson approached to join him on Insidious: The Red Door. And because Wilson is conservatory-trained and comes out of a musical theater tradition, he made the film’s music a priority. “I’m a big music guy – I play instruments and sing; music to me is incredibly important,” he explains. “I wanted Joe to be able to push the envelope. I wanted to have different types of instruments. From the get-go, we talked about the fact that the movie should feel different – Dalton is going to college across the country to a place that does not look like Los Angeles. How can we capture that collegiate sound? What else can we get in there? Can we have more strings?

“I love nerding out with Joe and pushing the musicality of the film, while still keeping all of those crazy broken pianos and hitting a string with a pipe,” Wilson continues. “I’m so excited for what he’s brings to the table.”

And, of course, Bishara gets out his lipstick again. “I wanted him back as the red-faced demon, because for Dalton – prior to his dad being possessed – his greatest trauma was his own kidnapping by the lipstick demon. If Dalton is going back into The Further, the demon had to be there.”

Wilson also pulls off the incredibly rare feat of a third important role on the movie: he sings on the film’s end-credits song. The golden-voiced Tony nominee joins forces with the heavy metal rock band Ghost for a cover of Shakespears Sister’s “Stay.”

“Once this song came up – a song that Ghost’s label sent me, and that Tobias Forge, who is Ghost, was game for – I thought it would be something cool and very different,” says Wilson. “It’s obviously me singing, but you can take it from the perspective of Josh singing. But is it good Josh or bad Josh? And when Tobias comes in, who is this tempter? Is it the devil? Is it the lipstick demon? Like the whole movie, the song is the balance of light and dark and meeting both.”

Though singing with Ghost seems a long way from performing “Oklahoma!” on Broadway, Wilson was up for it. “There’s something fun about metal music,” Wilson continues. “I like a lot of heavy metal, and a lot of heavy metal bands like horror movies, so there’s a real synergy between those two genres.”

ABOUT THE CAST

Ty Simpkins (Dalton) has quickly established himself as a highly sought-after actor in film. By the time he was 18, Simpkins had worked with some of the best directors in Hollywood, including Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes, James Wan, Paul Haggis, Reed Morano, and Colin Trevorrow.

Simpkins was recently honored as one of the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival’s Rising Stars and a 2022 Savannah Film Festival Breaking Big honoree. Simpkins was most recently seen in Darren Aronofsky’s double Oscar® winner The Whale for A24, opposite Brendan Fraser and Sadie Sink.

Simpkins recently finished filming The Re-Education of Molly Singer opposite Britt Robertson and Jaime Pressly.

In addition, Simpkins has starred in two of the biggest blockbusters of all time. He was seen opposite Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt in Universal’s box office monster hit Jurassic World. Prior to that, he starred opposite Robert Downey Jr. in Disney/Marvel’s Iron Man 3. This film holds the record as the eighth-highest grossing superhero film of all time. Ty made his feature debut in Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds starring alongside Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning. Simpkins also starred in the psychological drama Meadowland opposite Olivia Wilde, Elisabeth Moss, and Luke Wilson, which premiered at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival to rave reviews.

PATRICK WILSON (Josh / Director) is a critically acclaimed and award-winning actor who has quickly become well known for his vast variety of work. Over the years, Wilson has tackled lead roles in major Broadway musicals as well as starring in big-budget blockbusters.

He starred in the global sensation Aquaman, directed by James Wan. Wilson portrayed Orm, Aquaman’s (Jason Momoa) supervillain half-brother. The film was released in December 2018, with the box office surpassing $1 billion.

Wilson is widely acclaimed for his role of Ed Warren in the Conjuring franchise. The Conjuring is one of the top five highest-grossing supernatural films of all time. The Conjuring 2 released in 2016 and grossed an impressive $40 million in its opening weekend. The franchise’s third installment, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, was released in May 2021.

He was recently seen in Moonfall, Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi film also starring Halle Barry, which was released February 2022. The film tells the story of a NASA executive, an astronaut, and a conspiracy theorist who go on a last-chance mission to save humanity and travel into outer space to stop the moon from crashing into Earth. Also recently, Wilson was the voice of Everette in an episode of the animated show “Little Demon,” as well as the voice of himself in an episode of “Teen Titans Go!” on Cartoon Network.

Wilson will next be seen in the highly anticipated sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, set for release this year.

Additional film credits include Midway, In The Tall Grass, Annabelle Comes Home, The Nun, The Commuter, The Founder, A Kind of Murder, The Hollow Point, Bone Tomahawk, Zipper, Home Sweet Hell, Matters of the Heart, Jack Strong, Big Stone Gap, Stretch, Space Station 76, Insidious: Chapter 2, Insidious, Prometheus, Young Adult, The Ledge, Morning Glory, The Switch, The A-Team, Barry Munday, Watchmen, Life in Flight, Passengers, Lakeview Terrace, Purple Violets, Brothers Three: An American Gothic, Little Children, Running with Scissors, Hard Candy, The Phantom of the Opera, The Alamo, and My Sister’s Wedding.

In 2015, Wilson garnered Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor in a Limited Series for his portrayal as Lou Solverson in the hit TV series “Fargo.” Also on the small screen, Wilson received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of the morally conflicted Joe Pitt in the HBO miniseries “Angels In America,” the much-honored 2003 adaptation of Tony Kushner’s award-winning play. He also starred in “A Gifted Man” and in a second season episode of the award-winning HBO original series “Girls”; that episode, “One Man’s Trash,” became one of the most talked-about episodes of the show’s history, as well as one of the most-watched episodes of the season.

Wilson was also honored with two consecutive Tony Award nominations for Best Actor in a Musical, for his performance as Curly in the successful 2002 Broadway revival of “Oklahoma!,” for which he also received a Drama Desk Award nomination, and for his work in the 2001 Broadway hit “The Full Monty,” for which he also garnered Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations and won a Drama League Award. In 2006, he returned to Broadway to star in the revival of the Neil Simon comedy “Barefoot in the Park” opposite Amanda Peet. His most recent Broadway credit is the 2008/2009 revival of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons,” with John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, and Katie Holmes.

Wilson, along with other film industry insiders, has formed a theater development company named Cinema Lab, which focuses on the restoration of theaters impacted by the pandemic. The group plans to buy, renovate, and revive theaters across the U.S.

Born in Virginia and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, Wilson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University. Starting his career on the stage, he earned applause in the national tours of “Miss Saigon” and “Carousel.” In 1999, he starred off-Broadway in “Bright Lights, Big City,” winning a Drama League Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination. That same year, he made his Broadway debut in “Gershwin’s Fascinating Rhythm,” for which he won another Drama League Award.

Wilson currently resides in New Jersey with his family.

Sinclair Daniel’s (Chris) previous credits include supporting roles in the features One December Night and The Boo Hag. On television, she appeared as a guest star on “The Good Fight,” “Bull,” and “Madam Secretary.” Daniel created the role of The Kid in the world premiere of Duncan Sheik’s “Noir,” directed by Darko Tresnjak. She will next be seen starring in “The Other Black Girl,” the upcoming series from the Onyx Collective, coming to Hulu this fall.

Andrew Astor (Foster) was born in Arizona. The Astor family bloodline dates back to 1623 on his father’s side, and while the Astor family are most notably relatives of the English and German John Jacob Astor family, that bloodline also includes decedents from Northern Italy and Spain. Astor’s mother is Sicilian and grew up in the Bronx surrounded by members of “the family.”

Astor became involved with acting when he was 5½ years old. Astor was always a very happy, friendly, and outgoing child, and one day, when he was running around at an event, a woman asked his mother if she could take a photo of him because she thought he would be great in a movie called The Kingdom that would be filmed in Arizona, directed by Peter Berg starring Jamie Foxx and Jason Bateman. After filming, Astor told his parents he loved it and wanted to keep acting, and in January 2007, Astor and his family went to Los Angeles; six weeks later, he booked a recurring role on the TV series “Dirty Sexy Money” starring William Baldwin and Donald Sutherland.

During the next few years, Astor went on to work on a variety of national TV commercials, television programs, and feature films, including the Insidious franchise. Astor also had a lot of fun on the set of The Hangover as the son of Bradley Cooper and enjoyed guest star appearances on such TV shows as “ER,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Criminal Minds,” “Mad Men,” and “The Middle.” Astor also gave his time to a few people at a new company called Funny or Die, created by Will Ferrell, where he worked with several of their content contributors, including Eric Appel and Adam Ray.

After filming Insidious: Chapter 2, Astor and his family agreed that he should take a break from acting to spend some quality time in school with kids doing everyday kid activities. He attended the Buckley School from 8th -12th grade, where he became involved with video production and standup comedy classes, and played on the basketball team. During this time, Astor also played video games competitively and was ranked #1 on the North American leader boards for three months in “Rainbow Six Siege.” Playing videogames led Astor into the world of composing music and making beats.

After high school, Astor attended college and was enjoying college dorm life until the pandemic. Astor fell in love with producing music and made the decision to put his focus in that area, transferring to 1500 Sound Academy, a music school in Inglewood, California. Since then he has been working with many recording artists, musicians, writers, and other producers. He lives in Los Angeles.

Hiam Abbass (Professor Keck) is known for her prolific work in American and International feature films, television shows and theatre productions. Abbass was born in Nazareth and began acting at the El Hakawaty Theater in East Jerusalem before moving to Europe.

She can currently be seen as a series regular on HBO’s “Succession” and recurring on Hulu’s “Ramy,” and recently wrapped shooting “The Old Man” for FX. Her other television credits include “The Promise,” “The State,” and “The OA.”

Her extensive feature film credits include Haifa (1996), Red Satin (2002), Paradise Now (2005), Free Zone (2005), Munich (2005), The Lemon Tree (2008), The Visitor (2008), Amreeka (2009), Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017), amongst many others. She also worked as a creative consultant and acting coach on Alejandro G. Iñárritu Babel and Steven Spielberg’s Munich. In 2012, she was named as a member of the Jury for the Main Competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. She made her directorial feature film debut with The Inheritance in 2012, and has since written and directed an additional three short films: Le Pain, Le Danse Eternelle, and Le Donne Della Vucciria.

She recently co-directed a production of La France Contre Les Robots de G. Bernanos with Jean Baptiste Sastre.

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Lin Shaye (Elise) loved storytelling so much that even as a child she tried to be in every elementary school play, high school play and every major theatrical production at the University of Michigan, where she received her undergraduate degree in Art History. After graduating from Michigan, Shaye was accepted into, and graduated from, Columbia University’s Master of Fine Arts program in Acting. While in New York, she also studied with Uta Hagan, Stella Adler, and Lee Strasberg. After graduation, she worked with the best and brightest in New York theater, working on and off-Broadway, the Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, and The American Place Theater, including the infamous Joseph Papp. Some of the highlights of this period included “Tartuffe” at the New York Shakespeare Festival, and the Drama Critics Award-winning “The Taking of Miss Janie” at Lincoln Center.

Shaye made her film debut in New York in Hester Street, playing a Polish prostitute, much to her mother’s chagrin! Shortly thereafter, she took a gamble and flew to Los Angeles after hearing that Jack Nicholson was interested in meeting her for a role. She was cast in his film Goin’ South. Upon her move to Los Angeles, her love of theater inspired her and a small group of actors to put together a theater company called the Los Angeles Theater Unit, which lasted for a decade and earned several awards. Her most memorable performance was in the original play “Better Days,” which earned her a Drama-Logue Award for Best Actress.

Shaye has undoubtedly become one of the industry’s greatest chameleons. The Farrelly Brothers cast her in a series of memorable characters, beginning with their 1994 hit comedy Dumb and Dumber and then as the infamous landlady in Kingpin opposite Woody Harrelson, and again as the character Magda, the sun-withered neighbor of Cameron Diaz, in their hit film There’s Something About Mary. Shaye was also unforgettable as the KISS-hating mom in Detroit Rock City and as Sonia, the tough German/Swedish coach in Boat Trip with Cuba Gooding, Jr. In a dramatic change of pace, she received critical acclaim in The Hillside Strangler as the alcoholic mother opposite Nick Turturro.

The horror genre also found Shaye, starting with a cult favorite Critters and then on to Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, which paved the way for more in the genre. She worked on a trio of movies with director Tim Sullivan: 2001 Maniacs, starring opposite Robert Englund; its sequel, 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams; and Chillerama. Shaye also starred in the cult classic Snakes on a Plane opposite Samuel L. Jackson and the independent films The Signal, starring Laurence Fishburne, Jack Goes Home, Abattoir, Buster's Mal Heart and The Midnight Man, reuniting with Robert Englund. In 2010, she found herself in the blockbuster hit Insidious directed by James Wan, which led to Insidious: Chapter 2, Insidious: Chapter 3, and Insidious: The Last Key, in which she now had become, according to James Wan: “the name of the franchise.”

Shaye received rave reviews for her role of Joyce in Tommy Stovall's Room for Rent, which she also served as co-producer. She also starred in Sony Pictures’ The Grudge, directed by Nicolas Pesce, and the feature Dreamkatcher, which she served as an executive producer. Shaye served as a producer and starred opposite horror icon Tobin Bell in The Call, directed by Timothy Woodward. She also appeared in Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman and Frank & Penelope, directed by Sean Patrick Flanery. She is currently shooting the film Scared to Death, which she will be starring in opposite Bill Moseley, as well as serving as a producer.

Shaye has a solid resume in television as well. She appeared in a recurring role as Dottie Minter in the Showtime series “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels” opposite Nathan Lane. She received a 2020 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Performer in the Digital Drama Series Eastsiders on Netflix. She most recently completed shooting the lead role in the six episode series “The Last Stand of Ellen Cole,” directed by Clif Prowse and Derek Lee. Shaye also is featured with David Arquette and Lance Henriksen in the new choice-driven horror video game “The Quarry” from Supermassive Games.

Shaye resides in Los Angeles and is a lifetime member of The Actors Studio.

Rose Byrne (Renai) is an Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actress who continues to captivate audiences with her tremendously diverse body of work. Byrne is widely known for her role as Ellen Parsons in “Damages,” opposite Glenn Close. The series, created by Daniel Zelman, Glenn Kessler, and Todd Kessler, ran for five seasons, garnering Byrne two Golden Globe nominations and one Emmy nomination for her performance. She is also known for her role in the Paul Feig-directed comedy Bridesmaids, alongside Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Melissa McCarthy. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Comedy and Musical and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Byrne recently wrapped production on season three of the Apple TV+ Original drama series “Physical,” which she stars in and serves as an executive producer. The series follows Sheila (Byrne), a woman struggling in her life as a quietly tortured housewife in a 1980s Southern California beach community before finding herself on an unconventional path to power in the world of jazzercize aerobics. Season three is expected Summer 2023.

Upcoming, she reteams with Seth Rogan as the pair stars in the Apple TV+ Original series “Platonic,” set to release in Spring 2023. In addition, she voices the role of Leatherhead in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem for Paramount, which will release the film on August 4, 2023.

Byrne also starred in FX’s limited series “Mrs. America,” in which she portrayed Gloria Steinem. The series tells the true story of the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, and the unexpected backlash led by conservative Phyllis Schlafly (played by Cate Blanchett). Byrne led the cast of second-wave feminists, alongside Uzo Aduba, Tracey Ullman, and Ari Graynor, among others. The nine-episode limited series was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Limited Series.

She returned to the theatre stage in BAM’s “Medea” alongside Bobby Cannavale, as they portrayed a divided couple drawn into brutal conflict in a contemporary rewrite of Euripides’ Greek tragedy. “Medea,” directed by Simon Stone, opened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theater. Byrne was nominated for a 2020 Drama Desk award in the category of Outstanding Actress in a Play and for a 2020 Drama League Award in the category of Distinguished Performance on behalf of her performance in the show.

Film credits include the reprisal of her role as Bea in the live action/animated film sequel Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway; the film won an AACTA award for Best Visual Effects or Animation. In addition, Byrne’s other film credits include: Irresistible, Peter Rabbit, Like a Boss, Instant Family, Spy, X-Men: Apocalypse, Neighbors, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, I Am Mother, Jexi, Juliet Naked, Adult Beginners, The Meddler, Annie, This Is Where I Leave You, The Internship, The Place Beyond the Pines, Insidious, Get Him to the Greek, X-Men: First Class, Marie Antoinette, Troy, Adam, 28 Weeks Later, The Turning (winner of Best Actress in a Supporting Role from the Australian Film Critics Association and the Film Critics Circle of Australia), and Seriously Red, which she also produced.

Her other TV credits include “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” an Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Television Movie.

Byrne’s theatre credits include “You Can’t Take it With You” (Broadway debut), Sydney Theatre Company’s “Speed-the-Plow,” “La Dispute,” and “Three Sisters.”

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

PATRICK WILSON (Director) Please see bio in About the Cast section.

Jason Blum (Producer), founder and CEO of Blumhouse, is a three-time Academy Award® nominee, a two-time Primetime Emmy Award winner, and a three-time Peabody Award-winning producer. Blumhouse is a multimedia company regarded as the driving force in the horror renaissance. Through Blumhouse, Blum has produced over 150 movies and television series.

In film, Blum has produced lucrative, iconic, genre franchises like Halloween, Paranormal Activity, Insidious, Happy Death Day, Sinister, and The Purge, among several others. Most recently, the company released the box office juggernauts M3GAN and The Black Phone. Blum’s additional feature film credits include Glass, Split, and The Visit from M. Night Shyamalan; Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman; Get Out, from Jordan Peele; The Gift; and Whiplash, among many others.

Blumhouse’s upcoming film releases includes: They Listen (Sony Pictures) written and directed by Chris Weitz and starring Katherine Waterston, John Cho, and Lukita Maxwell; The Exorcist (Universal), the continuation of the quintessential possession horror film, starring Leslie Odom, Jr. and Ellen Burstyn from David Gordon Green; and Night Swim (Universal) from director Bryce McGuire, starring Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon. The company is also in production on Five Nights at Freddy’s (Universal), a film based on the popular video game series.

Blum’s television company deals in genre and provocative programming. The company’s upcoming slate of series include “The Horror of Dolores Roach” and “The Sticky,” both for Amazon. Other series and films from the company are the upcoming Amazon film Totally Killer from Nahnatchka Khan; the film Nanny from Nikyatu Jusu for Amazon; the film Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, from John Lee Hancock for Netflix; “The Thing About Pam,” starring Renee Zellweger for NBC; Sharp Objects for HBO; The Loudest Voice for Showtime; The Good Lord Bird for Showtime; The Anarchists for HBO Max; and Our Father for Netflix; among several others.

The indie studio has also earned critical acclaim, including a Golden Globe nomination for Ethan Hawke for his performance in “The Good Lord Bird”; a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for “Sharp Objects”; a Golden Globe award for Russell Crowe’s performance in “The Loudest Voice”; and Emmy Awards for its productions of The Normal Heart and The Jinx for HBO.

Blum has been recognized by TIME magazine’s 100 list of the world’s most influential people, and has appeared twice on Vanity Fair’s New Establishment list. In 2019, he received Special Achievement honors from the African American Film Critics Association, the largest body of black film critics in the world. In 2016, he received the Producer of the Year Award at CinemaCon.

Blum is on the Board of The Public Theater in New York, the Sundance Institute, Vassar College, the American Cinematheque, and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Last year, Blum donated $10M to Vassar, the largest gift ever given to the college by a male alum.

Before founding Blumhouse, Blum served as co-head of the Acquisitions and Co-Productions department at Miramax Films in New York. He began his career as the producing director of the Malaparte Theater Company, which was founded by Ethan Hawke.

He is married to screenwriter Lauren Schuker Blum and they have three kids -- Roxy, Booker, and Bette Sue.

A native of Israel, Oren Peli (Producer) came to the U.S. at the age of 19. Back home, he had dropped out of high school at age 16 to write a highly successful paint-and-animation software program, then became a full-time software designer, using his skills to create animation programs and, ultimately, game software.

Paranormal Activity, which he wrote, directed and produced, was his first film. Since then, he has produced the hit sequels Paranormal Activity 2, 3, and 4, The Marked Ones, The Ghost Dimension, and the Insidious franchise. He is also the producer of the horror film The Bay from director Barry Levinson, and Lords of Salem by writer/director Rob Zombie. He was the co-creator and executive producer of the ABC show “The River” from executive producer Steven Spielberg, and producer/writer of the movie Chernobyl Diaries.

JAMES WAN (Producer) is regarded as one of the most creative filmmakers working today. Breaking into the international film world as co-creator of Saw. Currently directing his sequel to the smash hit Aquaman, Wan is a visionary with a dynamic career directing both studio and independent films in genres including horror, superhero, action, thriller, adventure, mystery, and fantasy. He is a world-builder pioneering no fewer than five franchises – Aquaman, The Conjuring, Insidious, Saw, and Mortal Kombat – and M3GAN, the sci-fi horror/thriller that became an instant global hit and began the M3GAN universe, all of which captured the zeitgeist of the moment around the world. Wan is also in an elite group of directors with two films that have earned over $1 billion dollars at the worldwide box office – Furious 7 (the first Universal Studios film to hit $1 billion) and Aquaman.

Wan launched his own production company, Atomic Monster, in 2015, to produce both film and television/streaming projects. To date it has released more than 10 films and five series working with companies including Warner Bros., Universal, Netflix, Amazon, CBS, Sony TV, WBTV, 21 Laps, Gaumont, and Blumhouse.

As a director, Wan’s next film is the DC superhero film Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which will be released this December. It is the sequel to the box office smash Aquaman (2018), DC’s highest worldwide grossing film of all time.

Wan’s Malignant, an original horror/thriller that allowed him to go back to his indie filmmaking roots, was released by Warner Bros. in 2021. Wan directed, produced, and had a story by credit on the film.

In the Conjuring universe, Wan directed the first two films in the franchise about the famous paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Warner Bros. released the first in 2013 and the sequel in 2016. He also served as co-writer and producer on The Conjuring 2. To date, the global box office for the entire Conjuring universe is over $2 billion dollars; it is the most financially successful horror franchise of all time.

Wan directed Universal Pictures’ critically acclaimed Furious 7, which was released in 2015 and was #1 at the US box office for 4 weeks. It is currently the eleventh-highest grossing film of all time at the worldwide box office.

Co-creator of the popular Insidious franchise, Wan directed FilmDistrict’s Insidious (2010) and Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013); he also had a story by credit on the second film. Wan served as producer on Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015), and Insidious: The Last Key (2018).

For his first feature, Wan was the co-creator and director of Saw (2004), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. He also has served as executive producer for the entire Saw franchise.

As producer, Wan’s film credits include Annabelle (2015), Lights Out (2016), Annabelle: Creation (2017), The Nun (2018), The Curse of La Llorona (2019), Annabelle Comes Home (2019), Mortal Kombat (2021), The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), Malignant (2021), There’s Someone Inside Your House (2021), and M3GAN (2023), on which he also has a story by credit.

In television, Atomic Monster executive produced several series across several genres, including “MacGyver” (2016), “Swamp Thing” (2019), “Aquaman: King of Atlantis” (2021), “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (2021), “Archive 81” (2022), and “Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles” (2022). Up next, Wan will executive produce the untitled Ian McCulloch project Peacock, which the streamer recently picked up for a full series order.

Upcoming films for Wan as producer are Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot for New Line, The Nun 2, and Mortal Kombat 2 for Warner Bros.

Born in Malaysia and raised in Australia, Wan is the recipient of the Australians in Film 2016 Fox Studios Australia International Award and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Leigh Whannell (Story by / Based on characters created by / Producer) has steadily gained recognition for his contributions to film through his writing, acting and now directing. He was named one of Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch with his directorial debut Insidious: Chapter 3 (the third film in the highly successful franchise he co-created). Whannell has also directed the original sci-fi thriller Upgrade, which he wrote and directed for Blumhouse/Goalpost Pictures; the film premiered at SXSW, winning the Midnighters Audience Award, and was released by BH Tilt in 2018. Most recently, he wrote and directed the critically acclaimed film The Invisible Man starring Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, and Harriet Dyer, for Blumhouse/Goalpost Pictures; the film was released by Universal in 2020.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Whannell began his career as an actor. He was also a presenter on the cult hit TV series “Recovery,” which he later went on to host in its last two seasons. As a film critic on “Recovery,” Whannell interviewed such names as George Clooney, Jackie Chan, and Tim Burton. Whannell studied film at the prestigious Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, where he met filmmaker James Wan and where they started developing ideas together, including the 2004 Lionsgate release Saw, which Whannell, co-created, wrote, and starred in. In addition to his work on the screenplay for Saw II, Whannell wrote and starred in Saw III and is an executive producer on the Saw franchise. He is also a creative consultant on the “Saw” video game. The franchise is recognized as one of the most successful horror movie series and was named so by the Guinness World Records in 2010. Whannell also served as executive producer on the latest installment Spiral, featuring Chris Rock ,which was released by Lionsgate in 2020. Whannell’s other produced writing credits include the Universal Pictures release Dead Silence and the Sony/FilmDistrict releases Insidious, which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness and was named the most profitable film of 2011, and Insidious: Chapter 2, in which he starred alongside Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, and Barbara Hershey. Insidious: Chapter 3, which he wrote and directed, starred Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Lin Shaye, Angus Sampson, and Whannell as Specs. The film was released by Focus Features/Gramercy Pictures and grossed over $112 million worldwide. Whannell also produced and wrote the script for Insidious: The Last Key starring Lin Shaye, Angus Sampson, and Whannell, which was released in 2018.

Whannell co-wrote, executive produced and starred in the Australian drama The Mule, which premiered at SXSW 2014 followed by a release that same year, and Cooties, a horror comedy which he co-wrote with Ian Brennan (“Glee”). Cooties, which also starred Elijah Wood and Rainn Wilson, premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival as part of the popular Park City at Midnight section and was released by Lionsgate in 2015. Whannell’s other acting credits include the Warner Bros. release The Matrix Reloaded, the Fox release Death Sentence, the independent feature The Pardon starring Jaime King, the Australian feature Dying Breed, which premiered at Tribeca, a character voice in Warner Bros.’ Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole, and the thrillers Crush for Intrepid Pictures, Home Invasion for Voltage Pictures and Zinc Entertainment and The Bye Bye Man for STX Entertainment and Intrepid Pictures.

In 2014, Whannell received the Greg Tepper Award, a prestigious award for outstanding achievement in film and in 2018, he was presented with the Overlook Film Festival Visionary Award.

Scott Teems (Screenplay by / Story by) is a Georgia-born writer-director whose upcoming projects include the Blumhouse feature The Exorcist for Universal, set for release this year. He also is credited on the recent Universal releases Firestarter and Halloween Kills, the latter of which grossed over $100 million at the box office. Teems previously directed and co-wrote the Lionsgate release The Quarry. Prior to that, he was a co-EP and writer on the Netflix series “Narcos: Mexico,” and spent three seasons as writer, director, and producer on the Peabody Award-winning SundanceTV drama “Rectify.” Teems’ debut feature as writer-director, That Evening Sun, premiered at SXSW, where it won the Audience Award and Special Jury Award; the film was also nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards. Teems also directed the award-winning documentary Holbrook/Twain, which was the Opening Night Film at AFI Docs.

Autumn Eakin (Director of Photography) turned her years of working under Maryse Alberti (The Wrestler, Velvet Goldmine, Creed) and Vanja Cernjul (30 Rock, Orange Is The New Black, The Deuce) into an artful resourcefulness she uses in her narrative and documentary filmmaking. Born in New Mexico and raised in the hills of Missouri, she loves stories about the thin line of melancholy one finds between hope and despair.

Sony Pictures’ The Invitation starring Nathalie Emmanuel and Thomas Doherty and directed by Jessica M. Thompson, earned the #1 spot at the box office for its 2022 opening weekend. Netflix’s Someone Great starring Gina Rodriguez, Dewanda Wise, Brittany Snow and Lakeith Stanfield tapped into a cultural zeitgeist and was lauded by critics.

The Light of the Moon, also directed by Thompson, had its world premiere in narrative competition at SXSW 2017 to rave reviews and was the winner of the Audience Award. The feature documentaries Mavis! (HBO) and No Le Digas A Nadie (Don’t Tell Anyone) (PBS POV) both went on to win Peabody Awards. She has shot for acclaimed directors John Crowley, Marcos Siega, and Liz Garbus. She has also shot projects for Netflix, The History Channel, NBC, Hulu, Northface, Ogilvy & Mather, AT&T, and many more over her 15 years as an IATSE Local 600 member.

She has lensed episodes of Amazon’s “Modern Love,” HBO’s “Insecure,” and Netflix’s drama “Grand Army.” She is currently shooting the new HBO series “Girls on the Bus” starring Melissa Benoist, Carla Gugino, Christina Elmore, Griffin Dunne, and Scott Foley.

Eakin is also a forming member of the site Cinematographers XX, a respected hiring resource of experienced female-identified DPs. The group has been profiled in the New York Times, BUST, and the Washington Post. She now divides her time between New York, Los Angeles, and wherever the next job is.

Adam Reamer’s (Production Designer) recent collaboration with director Michael Mohan, producer David Bernad, and actor/EP Sydney Sweeney on the Italy-based horror/thriller Immaculate marks the first feature from Sweeney’s production company Fifty- Fifty Films, and his third project with her and Mohan. His filmography also includes James Ponsoldt’s film Summering (Sony Pictures) and Michael Mohan’s film The Voyeurs (Amazon Studios), as well as the series “The OA” (Netflix), and “Grimm” (NBC/Universal).

Reamer got his degree in architecture at Penn State University, where he also focused on sculpture and art history. In New York, he started as a set carpenter and scenic artist for the studio photography industry, later managing design and construction for advertising and editorial shoots, retail environments, and events.

After relocating to the west coast and a brief foray into design-build architecture and interiors, he returned to the media industry as a set designer and art director. Since then he has accrued production design credits across a variety of formats and genres. He is a member of the Art Directors Guild (IATSE 800).

Born and raised in Harlem NY, Dajia Milan (Costume Designer) has been making waves in the entertainment industry with her exceptional ability to bring characters and celebrity talents to life through wardrobe.

Milan got her start in the fashion industry at Vogue Magazine in the accessories department, which landed her opportunities to work as a wardrobe stylist. Milan quickly made a name for herself by working with some of the biggest names in entertainment; with her keen eye for detail and her ability to create unique and iconic looks, Milan earned her a reputation as one of the most talented stylists in the industry.

As her career progressed, Milan transitioned into costume design and began working on some of the most popular television shows and movies of this generation. She quickly became known for her ability to create authentic, period-specific costumes that brought the characters and worlds of these productions to life. Some of her notable work include Showtime’s “Flatbush Misdemeanors,” FX’s “Pose,” and various dramas and horror pieces, including Amazon Prime’s “Dead Ringers,” among many other movies and shows loved by the masses.

Milan’s dedication to her craft has solidified her position as a costume designer to watch in the industry as she continues to push the boundaries of costume design, creating visually stunning and meaningful designs for audiences around the world.