Malignant Director Has Disappointing Update for Possible Sequel

Horror fans felt like they were witnessing the birth of an all-new icon when Malignant was unleashed back in 2021, with that film’s Gabriel being both unsettling and immensely compelling, but if you’re hoping to get a follow-up adventure featuring the killer, director James Wan has some disappointing news for audiences. While Wan has regularly expressed interest in a potential follow-up, he recently confirmed that a sequel isn’t a priority for writer Akela Cooper, so while we surely can’t rule out the possibility of such a sequel, we shouldn’t expect to see it come to fruition anytime soon.

“Let me just say we have a lot of stuff going on right now. Malignant 2 is not necessarily at the top,” Wan shared with Screen Rant. “But we’re definitely keeping Akela very busy, I can tell you that.”

While this isn’t entirely promising, production recently kicked off on The Nun 2, which was written by Cooper, and serves as a sequel to 2017’s The Nun. With it having taken five years to develop a sequel to that film, it’s possible that a follow-up to Malignant could still come to life, yet will take longer than fans were hoping.

The good news for fans is that the biggest motivator for a Malignant sequel to be developed is based on how passionately fans demand it.

“That’s pretty much what I do from the very start, and not so much thinking that, ‘Oh, there’ll be a sequel for this,’ but I try to, with all my films, I try to have an idea of what the bigger world would look like, the umbrella universe, if you will. That way, when I make this particular film, I know what is happening at every moment of the film, at every moment of the storytelling, if you will,” Wan expressed to ComicBook.com earlier this year. “Because I know the bigger world that the story takes place in, there are potentially other stories to tell, and that usually is dictated by what the audience wants. If they want more stories, then I have more stories to pull into it. That’s my approach, even all the way back to my first film with Saw, is I do know the bigger world, like [writer] Leigh [Whannell] and I knew the bigger world, and if we were fortunate enough to tell other stories, we have stories ready to tell.”

He added, “Same with Insidious, same with The Conjuring. In the case of The Conjuring, it’s a more obvious one, right? Because the Warrens, it’s based on these real-life people who have investigated many cases, and so that’s a more obvious one to pull from. But the same with the Aquaman world, as well. I create this world, and then within that, you can tell many different stories within the universe.”

Wan and Cooper more recently developed the horror film M3GAN, which will hit theaters on January 6, 2023.

Are you hoping we get a Malignant sequel? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!