Leigh Whannell, the longtime Blumhouse creator and director of “The Invisible Man,” has signed an overall first-look deal with Blumhouse.
The two-year deal will cover projects Whannell wants to write, direct or produce for film and TV.
Whannell and Blumhouse have collaborated on seven projects over the course of 10 years, including “The Invisible Man,” which is in theaters this weekend.
“Leigh creates movies which not only build franchises but fundamentally change the landscape of their genre,” Jason Blum said in a statement. “After he and James Wan made ‘Saw,’ it launched dozens of copycats. Their work with Blumhouse on ‘Insidious,’ founded not just a franchise but dozens of classical proscenium PG-13 supernatural horror films. I have no doubt that will be true for ‘The Invisible Man’ and for anything else he wants to create. I just want to be there with him when he does.”
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Whannell’s directorial debut “Insidious: Chapter 3” grossed $113 million worldwide on a reported $10 million production budget. His follow-up, the original sci-fi thriller “Upgrade,” which he wrote and directed for Blumhouse/Goalpost Pictures, premiered at SXSW winning the Midnighters Audience Award.
Whannell co-created “Saw,” which he also starred in, and studied film at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. There, he met filmmaker James Wan, and they started developing ideas together, including “Saw.”
“Ten years ago, I walked into Jason Blum’s office thinking that I was having a general meeting with a producer who liked horror movies — little did I know that a decade long partnership and friendship was about to begin,” Whannell said in a statement. “I have since watched his then infant company, Blumhouse, grow into a powerhouse of genre films; a nurturing place that is willing to take risks on people. Indeed, they have taken plenty of risks on me and I look forward to taking many more with them as they continue to grow in the world of film and television.”
Whannell is represented by CAA and Myman, Greenspan, Fox, Rosenberg, Mobasser, Younger & Light.
