James Wan Leans Into His Horror Background, Prepares To Produce Reality TV

In addition to directing Dominic Toretto and his family in "Furious 7" and producing the recent "Mortal Kombat" remake, James Wan has been a fixture of the DC Extended Universe thanks to his work on "Aquaman" and the upcoming sequel "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom." However, the filmmaker's roots are deeply tied to the horror genre. After he and Leigh Whannell found huge success with the "Saw" franchise, Wan went on to helm a number of modern horror staples such as "Insidious," "The Conjuring," and most recently "Malignant."

Clearly, Wan has dealt with his fair share of scary things throughout his career. In and out of horror, he's been pretty fearless with his work and dabbled in some interesting projects. But when it comes to his next one, many may view it as his most terrifying one yet. Under his Atomic Monster banner, Wan is dipping his toes into ... reality television.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wan and Atomic Monster will be collaborating with Truly Original, the production company behind popular reality shows "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" and "Ink Masters," to develop and produce new reality programming. Truly Original is also a subsidiary of Banijay, the world's largest producer and distributor of international content with a hand in some of the biggest brands in unscripted TV such as "Big Brother," "Survivor," and "MasterChef," as well as scripted shows like "Peaky Blinders" and "Black Mirror." I guess if Wan's going to get into reality TV, he might as well link up with one of the best in the game.

The report doesn't mention anything that Atomic Monster and Truly Original have cooking so far, but they do say that "Malignant," "The Nun," and "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It" producer Ingrid Bisu will be working with Wan once again to bring these reality projects to life. While keeping tight-lipped about what they're working on, Bisu did comment on what they're hoping to accomplish with this new partnership.

"I love watching reality TV because, when done right, it can be unfiltered and raw. It's fascinating to see love, triumph, heartbreak and the entire human experience on display during the most intimate moments in a stranger's life. It makes one feel less alone when so many of the situations these people find themselves in are extremely relatable. That's what I want to see more of. James and I are so excited to work with the folks at Truly to turn some of our original concepts into series."

Honestly, what production company isn't doing unscripted work these days? Atomic Monster already has a diverse television roster that includes "MacGuyver" on CBS, Prime Video's "I Know What You Did Last Summer," and "Swamp Thing" on the now-defunct DC Universe. Adding reality shows to their resume could be low risk and high reward, especially if the format takes off and finds an audience. 

I mean this in the best possible way, but because it's hard to predict what Wan has going on in his mind creatively, I can't even begin to predict what kind of reality show he has brewing. Maybe it's a twist on a ghost hunting show. It could be a movie monster makeup competition. Or maybe it will actually bring the traps from "Saw" to life? No matter what it ends up as I'm sure that it will turn heads and raise eyebrows one way or another.