James Wan is a renowned Australian film producer, screenwriter, and director of Malaysian Chinese descent, born on February 26, 1977. He is widely recognized for directing the horror film Saw in 2004 and creating the iconic character Billy the puppet.
Wan's journey in the film industry began with his first feature-length film, Stygian, which he co-created with Shannon Young. The film won the "Best Guerrilla Film" award at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival in 2000. Prior to his mainstream success, Wan and Leigh Whannell collaborated on a script for a horror film, drawing inspiration from their dreams and fears.
The duo decided to produce a short film based on their script, which would later become Saw. With the help of Charlie Clouser, who composed the score, and a few stand-in actors, Leigh and James shot the film with a minimal budget. Leigh even starred in the film alongside James.
The full-length Saw was released in 2004 and received widespread success, grossing over $103 million worldwide, with a profit of over $80 million. This success paved the way for the sequel, Saw II, and the rest of the Saw franchise, which became the highest-grossing horror franchise of all time worldwide in unadjusted dollars.
In the United States, Saw is the second-highest grossing horror franchise, behind only the Friday the 13th films by a margin of $10 million. Wan's success in the horror genre has solidified his position as a master of the craft, with a string of successful films under his belt, including Dead Silence, Death Sentence, Insidious, The Conjuring, and Furious 7.
Before his mainstream success, Wan and Whannell had begun writing a script based on a horror film, citing inspiration from their dreams and fears.
