While we have known for a while that the Insidious franchise would continue on with an inevitable third film, we did not know who would be taking over the director’s chair in the horror series. James Wan, director of the first two Insidious films, announced his intention a while back to move on from strictly directing horror films so we already knew it wouldn’t be him, but now comes the news that it is Wan’s long-time partner-in-crime who will be making his directorial debut with Insidious: Chapter 3. That’s right, it’s screenwriter Leigh Whannell.

Whannell wrote the first two entries in the Insidious franchise and will also handle scripting duties for this third entry along with directing. He is known not just for the Insidious franchise, but also for his debut screenplay Saw, which would kick-start one of the most profitable horror franchises of all-time.

While I was a big fan of the first Insidious, Chapter 2 didn’t exactly set the world on fire, although it delivered a performance from one Patrick Wilson that the great Nicolas Cage would no doubt be proud of.

Will Whannell handle his directorial debut with the confidence of a long-time horror aficionado, or will he disappoint? We horror fans can find out when Insidious: Chapter 3 hits theaters on April 3, 2015. 

Source: Focus Features