James Wan studied Media Arts at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. It was here that he met scriptwriter Leigh Whannell and the two began to collaborate on horror movies, beginning with the low-budget Stygian. Their productions include Saw (2004) and Insidious (2010).
After moving to Hollywood, Wan experienced increasing success, first with the horror series The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, and then with the seventh film in the long-running Fast and Furious series, the last to feature Paul Walker (who died during filming).
In late 2018, Wan directed Aquaman, the most recent standalone film in the DC cinematic universe: starring Jason Momoa, Temuera Morrison, and Nicole Kidman, the film made over $950 million worldwide, prompting articles such as Junkee's 'James Wan Is the most Successful Aussie Director You've Never Heard Of' (8 January 2019).
