After spending plenty of time in front of the camera for the horror genre, actor Patrick Wilson will step behind it for the upcoming sequel Insidious: Fear the Dark. The fifth installment of the Insidious movie series, the film is set for a Summer 2023 release. While Wilson returns to reprise his role in the series as Josh Lambert, he simultaneously serves as director, making his directorial debut.In a new interview with THR, producer Jason Blum commented on Wilson's transition to the director's chair. From his point of view, Blum can't help but feel great excitement for the movie knowing that Wilson is directing. Blum knows Wilson as a film buff, and that always makes their experiences working on movies together that much more fun.
"Well, we all love Patrick. I’ve done one or two films with that guy. (Laughs.) But I’m super excited for what Patrick’s doing with Insidious. One of the things I love best about working with Patrick Wilson is that we don’t actually talk about the movie that we are making on set. We geek out about all the movies that we loved growing up, because Patrick and I are roughly of the same generation. We’re just constantly geeking out about John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China and all these movies."
The producer also explains how Wilson reminds him of Leigh Whannell, another filmmaker whose experience in acting has helped him greatly with his directing.
"Patrick reminds me a little bit of Leigh Whannell in that they are not just actors slash whatever; they are filmmakers as well. They’re film buffs, and being film buffs, they look at acting from the point of view of what the final film will be like. And so that actually helps inform them as filmmakers. So I’m always very excited when people like Leigh Whannell and Patrick Wilson want to jump behind the camera."
Insidious: Fear the Dark Will Continue the Story
Wilson wrapped filming on Insidious: Fear the Dark in August. At the time, his wife, Dagmara Dominiczyk, teased a strong sequel that fans should appreciate after he put several weeks worth of "blood, sweat, and tears" into the film.
"6 weeks of (fake) blood, sweat, and tears, and now he's mine all mine once again," Dominczyk wrote on Twitter. "So proud [Wilson] directed a movie, (and killed it, no pun intended) but man oh man we sure have missed him."
Leigh Whannell crafted the story for Insidious: Fear the Dark with Scott Teems writing the script. Along with Patrick Wilson, Ty Simpkins and Rose Byrne also return to reprise their roles as the Lamberts. Peter Dager, Jarquez McClendon, Sinclair Daniel, and Hiam Abbass also star.
Insidious: Fear the Dark will be released on July 7, 2023.