We’ve known for a little while now that Aquaman 2 would not be director James Wan’s next film following his massive success with last year $1.1 billion-grossing Aquaman. Before he dives back in to Atlantis, James Wan is returning to his roots for a new horror movie. He’s been pretty secretive about what that movie is, until now. James Wan has started filming his next horror movie and he has revealed the title. Take a look:
James Wan took to Instagram to announce the start of principal photography on his next horror movie, using the film slate to reveal the title of the film. James Wan’s next horror movie is titled Malignant. And this isn’t a working title or one meant to obscure what’s really being filmed in the way the Star Wars franchise has used Blue Harvest or Space Bear or Red Cup; Malignant is the official title of James Wan’s next film.
In his post, the horror director notes that Malignant will be the 10th feature film of his career, a career that began with Stygian in 2000 and progressed through, among other things, Saw, the Insidious films, The Conjuring movies, his first foray into blockbusters with Furious 7 and of course Aquaman. As he begins, filming James Wan says that he is really excited for Malignant.
I think it’s safe to say, given his previous work, that horror fans are excited for Malignant as well, even if we don’t really know what it’s about yet. James Wan is being quite stingy with information about this movie and although he finally announced the title to coincide with the start of production, the plot is still a mystery.
James Wan has previously said that this film, which we now know as Malignant, will be an entirely original idea, hard-R thriller and not based on any existing IP. The film will be made using practical effects and will not be overly reliant on CGI, a major change of pace from his last film Aquaman. What we don’t know is what it’s about.
So, we are left to speculate, with basically only a title and a genre to go off of. When you hear the word ‘malignant’ the first thing that probably comes to mind is cancer. Malignancy can refer to diseases like cancer where abnormal cells divide and infect nearby tissues. If you have a tumor, you don’t want it to be malignant.
Malignant can also mean uncontrollable and dangerous and it can be used to describe something or someone as malevolent, spiteful, or evil. Basically malignant doesn’t mean anything good and that fits perfectly with a horror film.
The logo for Malignant seen on the film slate is interesting and cool looking, but it’s hard to know what to make of it. It kind of looks like, although not exactly, the caduceus, a symbol of the Greek god Hermes, often used in the United States to represent medicine and healthcare.
My first instinct based on the title is that it could indicate the film is about some kind of parasite or sickness and it will have elements of body horror. Heck, you could even make a case for vampires based on the title. James Wan has done supernatural horror as well as films like Saw, and with his only description being a hard-R thriller, the door is wide open for speculation.
We’ll keep you updated on Malignant as news develops. In the meantime, check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see what movies, horror and otherwise, are headed to theaters this year.
