Latest James Wan Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• I think that's my favorite thing about making scary movies, watching people watch them. When my films come out, I like to cinema hop and know what moments are coming up, I pop my head in and watch people squirm or slide down in their seats. I like that sadism!

  James Wan

  Thinking, People, Scary

  Source: www.indielondon.co.uk

• The whole wide world scares me! Seriously. I think what happens in our world is so much more frightening than anything I can come up with in my movies.

  James Wan

  Thinking, Scare, World

  Source: www.indielondon.co.uk

• We're terrified of shocks but we're so fascinated by it at the same time. We're terrified of spiders and reptiles and all of that but at the same time you're fascinated by them - you want to go to the zoo and go behind the glass and look at all these creepy crawlies! It's the same thing with the supernatural. I think we're very frightened by it.

  James Wan

  Thinking, Creepy

  Source: www.indielondon.co.uk

• If your franchise has been around for awhile you have to find ways to keep it fresh.

  James Wan

  Way, Has Beens, Ifs

  Source: collider.com

• When you work with an actor and then you discover new things that are better, I think you gotta be free to be able to go with the new things that you're finding. I think that's very important. I have a strong idea when I go to shoot a movie but I also love to discover things when I'm on set as well.

  James Wan

  Strong, Thinking, Ideas

  Source: collider.com

• I think storytelling is storytelling. It doesn't matter what format it's shot on.

  James Wan

  Thinking, Matter, Storytelling

  Source: collider.com

• I generally go into a movie with a very strong vision, with how I want to make the film, how I want to shoot the film, how I want to edit the movie, what I want the sound to sound like. So I have a very concrete idea even if I don't storyboard it, I know exactly what I want to do once I get into the sequence. Now having said that, I try not to let that slave me to the process. So if I do storyboard a sequence I don't necessarily stick to it if I discover more exciting things on set.

  James Wan

  Strong, Ideas, Vision

  Source: collider.com

• You know music and sound design can be very powerful with how you use it but also the absence of sound can say a lot as well.

  James Wan

  Powerful, Design, Sound

  Source: collider.com

• I'm a visual filmmaker so the camera is a big part of my storytelling tool and it's something that I really rely on to tell a scene or create the suspense that I need and create the emotion of a scene or a sequence.

  James Wan

  Cameras, Needs, Suspense

  Source: collider.com

• I think you can say a lot with the movement of your camera but you can also say a lot by keeping it still.

  James Wan

  Thinking, Cameras, Movement

  Source: collider.com

• I always try to better myself with every movie I make. I don't take anything sitting back and so I try to learn from every film I make and carry that onto the next movie because I think it's important as a filmmaker to keep growing with each film and I think I am growing with each movie. And I think it's important because you need to strive to better yourself.

  James Wan

  Thinking, Important, Trying

  Source: collider.com

• I think you cannot be too complacent. I think that's dangerous and you cannot take anything for granted.

  James Wan

  Thinking, Granted, Dangerous

  Source: collider.com

• I've always said that with a lot of the horror franchises that I've started, it's like directing a pilot. I come in, I direct the first movie and all these directors come in and direct all the sequels after me and hey have to kind of retain the look, the tone, and the characters.

  James Wan

  Character, Looks, Hey

  "Interview: ‘MacGyver’ Producers James Wan & Peter Lenkov on Pilot Reshoots, the Theme Song, and Updating a Classic". Interview with Fred Topel, www.slashfilm.com. September 23, 2016.

• I don't like talking about sequels or spinoffs or franchise until they actually happen, until they actually work with the audience.

  James Wan

  Talking, Audience, Sequels

  "‘MacGyver’ Producers James Wan & Peter Lenkov on Pilot Reshoots, the Theme Song, and Updating a Classic". Interview with Fred Topel, www.slashfilm.com. September 23, 2016.

• We're not just horror fans. We're film fans. I love action films. I want to do action films. I want to do romantic comedies. I love all this stuff. So, if I find the good material, I'll do it.

  James Wan

  Fans, Want, Stuff

  Source: collider.com

• I always believe your instinct is the most correct instinct.

  James Wan

  Believe, Instinct, Always Believe

  Source: collider.com

• If I'm smart as an artist, I wouldn't be a snob and turn it down, because I'd look at it and go, this is great stuff, but I definitely do want to experiment in other genres, or make films in other genres.

  James Wan

  Smart, Artist, Looks

  Source: collider.com

• Hollywood is just so strange. It's like, everyone has a whole bunch of stuff boiling away and whichever one happens first, happens. That one, we're still in the process of, you know, trying to write the script. So, it's still very early stages at this point. Yeah.

  James Wan

  Writing, Trying, Hollywood

  Source: collider.com

• I think it's good for the fans, as well, because they get to connect with you directly. You know, in the old days, if I wanted to, like, write to (Steven) Spielberg or Sam Raimi or whatever, I'm not sure I could actually write a fan mail and (I'd) have no idea where to actually send it. Nowadays, you can just, like, follow Ashton (Kutcher who still has among the most followers on Twitter) or, like, friend someone, you know, on Facebook, and you can actually just say, "Hey, I like your stuff."

  James Wan

  I Like You, Writing, Thinking

  Source: collider.com

• Marketing has taken such a complete shift, thanks to the internet.

  James Wan

  Taken, Marketing, Thanks

  Source: collider.com

• Designing the technical aspects of my camera movement for me is very important. I want the camera to be a big part in telling the story as well, like what I really believe in with all the films I make.

  James Wan

  Believe, Design, Important

  Source: collider.com

• When you make movies, I find that I never have time to go to the movies and enjoy movies like I used to, because I'm so movied out, right, I'm so filmed out that the last thing that I wanna do is with the little spare time that I have is stick in a dark room and watch more stuff on the screen.

  James Wan

  Dark, Watches, Littles

  Source: collider.com

• What makes horror movies work is the idea that "oh my God, what would I do if I were in that situation? How would I get out of that alive? What would I do if I saw the door to my closet creaking open in the middle of the night and a doll on a tricycle comes riding out?"

  James Wan

  Night, Doors, Ideas

  Source: collider.com

• I realized that my camera work could help me in a lot of ways to put the audience in the driver's seat, so to speak, to get them in there with the action, and to get them as close and be as intimate with what was going on on-screen as possible.

  James Wan

  Cameras, Way, Helping

  Source: collider.com

• When you're watching an action movie, you experience an action movie more outside of the aquarium, you're out of the aquarium looking in at all the swimming fish that are in there. Whereas horror films and thrillers are designed to put the audience into that box, into that aquarium.

  James Wan

  Swimming, Aquariums, Action

  Source: collider.com