Focus Features and Blumhouse Productions’ Insidious: Chapter 3 takes a trip back in time before the events of the demons that haunted the Lambert family. Leigh Whannell makes his directorial debut replacing James Wan, who left to direct Furious 7.

Having already written and starred in the first two chapters, Whannell seemed like a natural fit to direct the third. However, in our roundtable interview the director revealed that there were some fears about coming on to a sequel that already has a deep mythology and a fanbase. He also talks about some of the difficulties of writing, directing, and acting simultaneously, the use of practical effects over CG, and meeting expectations. Hit the jump for the interview.

Insidious Chapter 2
Director: James Wan
Screenwriter: Leigh Whannell
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Ty Simpkins, Barbara Hershey, Jocelin Donahue, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Andrew Astor, Lindsay Seim
Blumhouse Productions
Rated PG-13 | 105 Minutes
Release Date: September 13, 2013

Directed by James Wan (Insidious, The Conjuring) and written by Leigh Whannel (Saw), Insidious Chapter 2 is the Back to the Future II of horror films, just replace time travel with astral projection and spirit possession.

Insidious Chapter 2 crisscrosses with the continuity of Wan’s 2011 film, meaning some of the weird, unexplainable moments in Insidious are actually caused by events that take place in Chapter 2.

Before we see what happens after Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) rescues his son Dalton from the spirit realm, we travel back to 1986 and meet Josh as a child. His mother (Jocelin Donahue, The House of the Devil) enlists the help of Elisa (Lindsay Seim), a young clairvoyant who wipes his memory of his ability to astral project.

James Wan certainly knows how to work with an extremely small production budget. Insidious was produced with a mere $1.5 million budget, and went on to gross $60 million during its theatrical run. With an impressive number like that, and its cryptic ending that left fans wanting more, a sequel was green lit. So Wan, along with film’s stars, Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, and Ty Simpkins, came back together for Insidious Chapter 2, and now we are getting a first hand look at what the sequel will look like.

The first trailer for Insidious Chapter 2 has finally arrived, and it shows that the Lamberts aren’t out of the creepy astral protected woods yet; in fact, they may have only gone deeper into it. Check out the trailer here below.

Perhaps the one thing that is noticeably absent from this trailer is the creepy guy with the red face, who has been replaced with spirits that can escape from anyone’s sight.

Fans of the surprise horror movie hit Insidious, which cost $1.5 million to make and made $97 million at the box office, will be pleased to know that a sequel is in fact still on the way, and that an official release date has now been set. Better yet, everyone is coming back to make the movie.

FilmDistrict has set an August 30, 2013 release for the movie, which will be titled Insidious Chapter 2. James Wan returns to direct the movie, with stars Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, and Ty Simpkins all set to reprise their roles. Original screenwriter Leigh Whannell also returns.