Insidious: Chapter 4 May Take Place In Between Third And First Films

Insidious: Chapter 3 isn’t hitting theaters until next month, but Leigh Whannell, the horror prequel’s writer, director and co-star, is already starting to think about where the franchise could go from here.

Sitting down with We Got This Covered’s Jami Philbrick last week, Whannell confirmed what we already suspected – that a fourth chapter in the high-grossing horror series is planned – and theorized about setting Insidious: Chapter 4 sometime after the chilling events of Chapter 3 (billed as the franchise’s darkest installment to date) but before Lin Shaye’s medium Elise Rainier came into contact with the Lambert family in the first Insidious.

When asked whether the next film would continue the Chapter 3 narrative or tell a different story, Whannell said:

I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it yet. But for the purposes of this interview, I’ll say that I’d like to explore the time between this film and the first film. That whole area there where Elise has rediscovered her gift, I think you could have a lot of adventures before she arrives. So I think there is a lot of room there. We’ve kind of established Lin [Shaye] in this particular film as kind of this superhero, so that would be kind of interesting to explore in the other films.

Chapter 3 serves as a sort of origin tale for Elise. It picks up with the medium early on in her supernatural career, in a rut after the death of her husband. When Elise comes across the haunted Brenner clan (including imperiled daughter Quinn, played by Stefanie Scott, and father Sean, played by Dermot Mulroney), she’s forced to put her own baggage aside in order to combat a dangerous entity. Though we know that Elise is safe, having appeared in the other movies, the same can’t be said for Quinn or Sean. And with Whannell saying that the fourth installment may move onto other “adventures,” that certainly doesn’t bode well for the newcomers.

Insidious: Chapter 3 opens on June 5th.