Los Angeles September 16, 2013 – Entertainment One (eOne), FilmDistrict, and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) announced today that together they will be developing the third chapter of the micro-budgeted INSIDIOUS film franchise which Leigh Whannell has signed on to write. Whannell has written both INSIDIOUS and INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 which just had a stellar first weekend release in North America debuting to more than $40 million at the box office making it one of the largest horror genre openings ever and one of the biggest openings for a film released in the month of September. Jason Blum and his Blumhouse Productions, which produced both INSIDIOUS and INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2, is producing the next installment along with Oren Peli. Steven Schneider, Brian Kavanaugh Jones, Peter Schlessel, Lia Buman and Xavier Marchand are executive producing.

In a joint statement, Peter Schlessel, FilmDistrict’s CEO, Xavier Marchand, eOne’s President, Film Production, and Steven Bersch, President of SPWA, said, “The release of the first INSIDIOUS resonated with audiences around the world and quickly became one of the most talked about films in 2011. This weekend moviegoers enjoyed the terrifying continuation of the first film and we are confident they will be excited to see the third chapter of the INSIDIOUS world. There is nobody better suited to bring audiences the next chapter of this haunting story than Leigh who has brilliantly written both INSIDIOUS and INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2.”

Jason Blum, founder and CEO of Blumhouse said, “FilmDistrict, eOne and SPWA have been incredible partners on the INSIDIOUS franchise. We are all so grateful for how audiences embraced James Wan and Leigh’s latest film and are excited to see what Leigh has in store for the third chapter.”

The first INSIDIOUS told the story of Josh and Renai Lambert and their son Dalton, confronting the demons that possess the young boy. The project was picked up by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival and distributed by FilmDistrict in the US. eOne handles rights to the film in Canada, U.K. and Spain, and Sony handles rights in the rest of the world. It was released on April 1, 2011, and has grossed $97 million worldwide. With the picture’s reported $1.5 million budget, it has led to the film being called the most profitable film of 2011.

INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2, the terrifying sequel, follows the haunted Lambert family as they seek to uncover the mysterious childhood secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world. Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Ty Simpkins, and Barbara Hershey reprised their roles in the film directed by James Wan, who also directed the first installment.

Whannell is represented by Paradigm.

"I'm going to go on record and say I am finished with the horror genre. 'Conjuring' and 'Insidious 2' are my two last scary movies," he told Moviefone, adding: "Hollywood puts you in a box. If you do a successful comedy, then you're know as The Comedy Guy. If you do a successful car chase movie, then you become that guy. So I'm a student of cinema, so I just want to make sure I get the chance to make other kinds of films."

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James Wan and Leigh Whannell created the hit horror franchises Saw and Insidious, with the latter property raking in big box office dollars for its 2013 sequel chapter ($161 million worldwide on a $5 million budget). However, financial success isn’t the only thing propelling the Insidious franchise forward; the ending of Chapter 2 blew the door wide open (no pun) for further stories of creatures from The Further and those who are haunted by and/or hunt them. Hence why Insidious 3 is coming to theaters in spring 2015.

As you can see from the video above, our correspondent Perri Nemiroff caught up with Insidious and Saw writer Leigh Whannell and Insidious co-star Angus “Tucker” Sampson at SXSW, where the pair are premiering their new drug-smuggling crime flick, The Mule. As far as Insidious 3 goes, we can confirm the following information:

A script for the film is complete.
Insidious 1 & 2 stars Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne are NOT returning.
Insidious 3 will focus on a new family and story.
That story is NOT connected to the last scene in Insidious 2.
Whannell and Sampson WILL returns as ghost hunters Specs and Tucker, respectively.

That story is NOT connected to the last scene in Insidious 2.

Focus Features and Blumhouse Productions set original Saw director Leigh Whannell to helm Insidious: Chapter 3. The fright franchise originated at FilmDistrict and was absorbed by Focus when Peter Schlessel took the reins.

EXCLUSIVE: Stefanie Scott is set to star in Insidious: Chapter 3, the third installment of Focus Features, eOne, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, and Blumhouse Productions‘ hit horror franchise. Plot and character details are being kept under wraps. The threequel will be written and directed by Leigh Whannell (Saw, Insidious) in his helming debut. Scott is currently in production on Blumhouse’s live-action adaptation of ’80s cartoon Jem and the Holograms, making her the latest thesp to be cast in multiple Blumhouse pictures after In A Valley Of Violence stars Ethan Hawke, Karen Gillan, and James Ransone. The actress also starred recently on Disney’s high school sitcom A.N.T. Farm and appeared in features Flipped and No Strings Attached.

Focus Features took U.S. rights to Insidious: Chapter 3 from FilmDistrict when Peter Schlessel took the reins last October. The company has set an April 3, 2015 release. eOne is handling distribution in Canada, the U.K., and Spain while Sony has the remainder of international territories. The first Insidious pic scored $97M on a $1.5M budget, directed by Wan and written by Whannell. Sequel Insidious: Chapter 2 continued the demonic saga with Wan directing again from a Whannell script and notched $160M worldwide.

Jason Blum is producing the third installment again for Blumhouse alongside Oren Peli and James Wan. Steven Schneider, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Peter Schlessel, Lia Buman, and Xavier Marchand are executive producers. Scott is repped by The Gersh Agency, manager Brian Medavoy, and attorney Shelby Weiser.