Leigh Whannell
Biography
Leigh Whannell is an Australian filmmaker and actor who worked in Australian television as a reporter and film critic, including on ABC's Recovery. While attending film school, he met James Wan, and the two created the Saw franchise. Whannell wrote Saw (2004), in which he played Adam, and co-wrote Saw II (2005) and Saw III (2006), also serving as an executive producer. He wrote Dead Silence for Wan to direct, took a small role in Death Sentence (2007), and appeared in Dying Breed (2008). He wrote and acted in Insidious (2011) and wrote Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013), then made his directing debut with Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015), which he also wrote. He co-wrote Cooties (2014) and directed Upgrade (2018) and The Invisible Man (2020), the latter a critical and commercial success. He also directed Wolf Man (2025).
49years old
Turns 50 on January 17in 96 days
- Born Melbourne
- Star sign: CapricornThe sign runs December 22 to January 19
Movie Career
- Films
- 19
- Career span
- 21 years2004 to 2025
Genres
First and latest
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Big break
Whannell and James Wan met while in film school, then wrote the script that became Saw together; a 2003 short film was made to show off the script's intensity before the 2004 feature.
Behind the camera
Whannell wrote the sequel Insidious: Chapter 3, released in 2015, and it was also the film on which he made his directing debut.
Behind the camera
Whannell was the writer of the Saw video game, which came out in 2009, and he was co-writer of the 2014 film Cooties.
Leigh Whannell movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
James Wan directed five of these films, Darren Lynn Bousman two. Angus Sampson appears in six of them, more than any other actor. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Angus Sampson's page
Lin Shaye's page
Patrick Wilson's page
Rose Byrne's page
All films by James Wan
Also three films together5 more actors
- Steve CoulterInsidious: The Red Door (2023), Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015) and Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)
- Shawnee SmithSaw III (2006), Saw II (2005) and Saw (2004)
- Ty SimpkinsInsidious: The Red Door (2023), Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) and Insidious (2011)
- J. LaRoseInsidious: Chapter 2 (2013), Insidious (2011) and Saw III (2006)
- Andrew AstorInsidious: The Red Door (2023), Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) and Insidious (2011)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Box office
What Leigh Whannell's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$2.4 billion
13 of the 19 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 19 films: 13 worldwide figure; 2 us gross only; 1 never in cinemas; 3 figure not found.
- 13Worldwide figure
- 2US gross only
- 1Never in cinemas
- 3Figure not found
Top grosser
Highest grossing
The eight biggest films earned 92% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$1.2B48.0% of the total
- 2$189M7.9% of the total
- 3$173M7.2% of the total
- 4$165M6.9% of the total
- 5$162M6.7% of the total
- 6$153M6.4% of the total
- 7$120M5.0% of the total
- 8$104M4.3% of the total
$181 millionfrom the other 5 films with a worldwide figure, 8% of the total
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.