The Insidious franchise continues with its fifth installment, Insidious: The Red Door, and while Insidious 6 news may not be on the horizon, there are some big plans in the works for the remainder of the series. Horror director James Wan found that he had another thrilling hit on his hands when Insidious was released to the public in 2011, introducing to the world to the Lambert family, led by parents Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne), and the spirits that continued to haunt them and their son Dalton (Ty Simpkins). While the third and fourth movies branched outside of the Lamberts, Insidious 5 returned to their family.
Ultimately, the two threads that have connected all of the Insidious movies together have been demonologist and paranormal investigator Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) and the Further itself. The Further is what Elise refers to as the spiritual realm, which is full of dastardly ghosts and ghouls that seek to possess the bodies of humans that are unfortunate enough to go wandering there. Insidious 5 returned to the original victim, Dalton Lambert, set 10 years after the events of Insidious 2 as he is haunted by familiar spirits while attending college. There isn’t a ton of Insidious 6 news to go around, however, there are bigger updates regarding the franchise.
The latest Insidious 6 news is that Insidious: The Red Door is hitting theaters on Friday, July 7th, 2023, and it will reportedly be the final in the franchise when it comes to the main chronological story. What this means is that there won’t be an Insidious 6 in the classical sense. Insidious 5 marked Patrick Wilson’s directorial debut, and he also reprised the role of Josh Lambert. Ending the Lamberts’ tale on this note is a good move for the Insidious franchise, bringing its story full circle and closing up any loose ends. However, that doesn’t mean audiences won’t be going into the Further anymore, as Blumhouse has hinted there are more plans for the Insidious franchise outside the main timeline.
Insidious 6 news is sparse, but it’s safe to say that Insidious 6 isn’t confirmed. This means that there currently isn’t an Insidious 6 release date to look forward to. Though, audiences shouldn’t be discouraged or worried that the franchise is dead, as an Insidious spinoff is currently in development, known as Thread: An Insidious Tale. The spinoff will be another feature film to add to the growing franchise. Little is known about the new Insidious spinoff, but Moon Knight writer Jeremy Slater is sitting in the director’s chair for his feature film directorial debut, and Kumail Nanjiani (Eternals) and Mandy Moore (Tangled) have joined the cast.
If Insidious 6 news were to all of a sudden see the film in development, then the cast would be largely determined by who survives The Red Door. The Insidious 6 cast could see Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring) play Josh Lambert and Rose Byrne (Platonic) return as Renai. The same goes for Ty Simpkins (Jurassic World) as Dalton and Andrew Astor (The Hangover) as Foster. While Lin Shaye’s Elise has died, she returned to the cast of Insidious: The Red Door to appear in archival-type footage and would likely play Elise again. The same goes for Julianna Davies, who plays the youngest Lambert sibling Kali.
In addition, there are a lot of characters from Insidious 3 and 4 that didn’t make it into the fifth installment that could reappear for the 6th. It has also been long-rumored that the Insidious franchise and the Sinister franchise could see a crossover. If Insidious 6 news sees this crossover happening, that means the Insidious 6 cast could include the likes of Clare Foley as Ashley from the first film, or James Ransone (IT: Chapter Two), Shannyn Sossamon (A Knight’s Tale), Robert Sloan (Hero of the Day), and Dartanian Sloan (Hick) from the second movie encountering the spirits from Insidious in a Sinister crossover.
Since there isn’t any Insidious 6 news, this means that there isn’t a prospective plot for another installment. However, if one were to count Thread: An Insidious Tale as the next chronological entry to the franchise, then there is an Insidious 6 story. The plot description given for Thread seems to branch from the typical storyline. The movie will see Nanjiani and Moore play a married couple who attempt to use a magic spell to travel back in time and prevent the untimely death of their young daughter. Of course, this is an Insidious movie, so their attempt will backfire and land them somewhere in the Further.
The story of Thread: An Insidious Tale is a departure from the norm, but the future of the Insidious franchise truly lies in its spinoffs. The Lambert family’s tale was enough to carry three movies, and Elise Rainier got her own stories with Insidious 3 and Insidious 4. Therefore, to keep the franchise moving, Leigh Whannell and James Wan have to branch out and tell more stories. While keeping characters like Elise and Josh in the background would be a welcome move on Blumhouse’s part, an Insidious 6 story with the Lambert family isn’t necessary anymore and there are more chilling tales from the Further that could use due attention.