James Wan

James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is a Malaysian-born Australian filmmaker. He has primarily worked in the horror genre as the co-creator of the Saw and Insidious franchises and the creator of The Conjuring Universe, the highest-grossing horror franchise at over $2.9 billion. Wan is also the founder of film and television production company Atomic Monster. Wan made his feature directorial debut with Saw in 2004. The Saw franchise became commercially successful and grossed more than $1 billion globally. Following a period of setbacks, Wan found new success with the Insidious series, in which he directed the first film in 2010 and its 2013 sequel. The same year as the second Insidious, Wan directed the first Conjuring film to critical and commercial success. He served as the director of the second installment in 2016 and produced subsequent films in the franchise. Outside of horror, Wan directed Furious 7 (2015), the seventh installment of the Fast & Furious franchise, and the DC Extended Universe superhero films Aquaman (2018) and its sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023). Both Furious 7 and Aquaman grossed over $1 billion, making Wan the eighth director with two films to reach the milestone. He is the 16th highest-grossing director of all time as of 2026, with his films having grossed over $4.1 billion worldwide.