Birthdate: Jan 17, 1977
Birthplace: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Leigh Whannell is the co-creator (with director James Wan) of the Saw and Insidious horror series and the go-to director/writer for Universal Pictures’ “Universal Monsters” cinematic universe, and though he began his movie career as an actor (including a bit part in The Matrix Reloaded (2003)), he followed the phenomenal success of his feature debut as writer of Saw (2004), directed by Wan and starring Tobin Bell, as screenwriter/executive producer of Saw II (2005) and Saw III (2006), both directed by Darren Lynn Housman and in quick succession, the first three movies grossed a combined $422 million for distributor Lionsgate.
Whannell as screenwriter reunited with director Wan for the supernatural horror movie, Dead Silence (2007), co-starring Ryan Kwanten, Amber Valletta, Donnie Wahlberg, and Bob Gunton, but which didn’t click at the box office for Universal Pictures with a poor $22.4 million return.
Whannell as a writer (with Wan as director/co-editor) co-created Insidious (2010), starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, and Barbara Hershey, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival and launching a highly successful series produced by lead producer Jason Blum and Haunted Movies/Stage 6 Films/Alliance Films/IM Global and released in the US by FilmDistrict; this was soon followed by the Whannell-written sequel, Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013), with new cast members Lin Shaye and Ty Simpkins under Wan’s direction, and grossing (with the first entry) $262 for FilmDistrict.
Whannell wrote and executive produced two non-horror movies in 2014–first, the American zombie comedy, Cooties, co-directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion and co-written by Ian Brennan and in which Whannell was a cast member with Elijah Wood, Alison Pill, Rainn Wilson, Nasir Pedrad and Jorge Garcia, and which premiered at Sundance before a limited Lionsgate Premiere release; and then Whannell co-wrote and joined the cast of The Mule, with Hugo Weaving, Angus Sampson and John Noble under Tony Mahony’s co-direction and which premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival.
Leigh Whannell made his debut as director/writer feature debut with the Blumhouse-backed prequel and third series installment, Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015), with new stars Dermot Mulroney and Stefanie Scott, and released by Gramercy Pictures and Focus Features (US)/Entertainment One Films (Canada-UK-Spain)/Sony Pictures Releasing International (international) to a $113 million return.
Whannell was writer/co-producer/actor for the next-to-last sequel in the Blumhouse/Stage 6 Films series, Insidious: The Last Key (2018), co-starring Lin Shaye and Angus Sampson, and grossing $168 million globally for Universal Pictures (US)/Sony Pictures Releasing International (ex-US).
Whannell continued with Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions as director/writer of the Australian/American cyber revenge thriller, Upgrade (2018), starring Logan Marshall-Green, and premiering at the South by Southwest Film Festival before a profitable $17 million release by OTL Releasing (US)/Madman Entertainment (Australia)/Blumhouse Tilt (international).
Whannell then made his third highly successful feature as director/writer with producer Blum, an updated adaptation of H.G. Wells’s 1897 novel, The Invisible Man (2020), starring Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, and Harriet Dyer, and grossing a very robust $144.5 million for Universal Pictures under their “Universal Monsters” cinematic universe banner.
Leigh Whannell co-wrote (with screenwriter Scott Teems) the story for, acted in, and also produced (with Jason Blum, Oren Peli and James Wan) Insidious: The Red Door (2023), the direct sequel to Insidious: Chapter 2 and the directorial debut of lead star Patrick Wilson, Ty Simpkins, Rose Byrne, Hiam Abbass, Angus Sampson and Lin Shaye, delivering a strong $189 million return for Screen Gems/Sony Pictures Releasing via Stage 6 Films/Blumhouse Productions.
Whannell was director/writer/producer (with Blum and the project’s original star-producer, Ryan Gosling) of his second feature in Universal Pictures’ “Universal Monsters” cinematic universe, Wolf Man (2025), a remake of Universal’s 1941 The Wolf Man (starring Lon Chaney Jr.), and co-starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, with Matilda Firth and Sam Jaeger. Whannell has served as executive producer for the Saw series since Saw IV (2007) and has proceeded with Saw V (2008), Saw VI (2009), Saw 3D (2010), Jigsaw (2017), Spiral (2021), Saw X (2025), and Saw XI (2025).
Leigh Whannell was raised in Melbourne, Australia by his parents. Whannell attended and graduated from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, majoring in cinema, while also hosting the cinema segment of an Australian TV show that led to more TV hosting gigs. Whannell has been married to actor/writer Corbett Tuck since 2009; the couple has three children, Sabine, Jones, and Wren. Whannell’s height is 5’ 6 ½ ”. Whannell’s estimated net worth is $55 million.
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Splat Guy: Leigh Whannell belongs to the so-called “Splat Pack” group of ultra-violent horror movies, including Alexandre Aja, Darren Lynn Bousman, Neil Marshall, Greg McLean, Eli Roth, James Wan, and Rob Zombie.