New horror movie Imaginary’s director says it isn’t like Chucky or Annabelle, and explains sequel hopes
Mar. 8, 2024Exclusive: The director of new horror movie Imaginary wants a sequel, and a whole expanded cinematic universe
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This article contains mild spoilers for Imaginary
According to Imaginary director Jeff Wadlow, there’s scope for further exploration of the world created in his new fantasy-tinged horror film about a little girl and her increasingly sinister relationship with her imaginary friend.
Imaginary, from Wadlow’s frequent production collaborators Blumhouse, follows Alice (played by Pyper Braun) and her cuddly teddy bear named Chauncey as they play more and more troubling games together and she falls further under its thrall. The film also stars DeWanda Wise (Jurassic World: Dominion) as Alice’s stepmother Jessica, Taegen Burns as her sister Taylor, and horror legend Betty Buckley (Carrie, Split) as their neighbor Gloria. Once the horror kicks off in earnest, Alice disappears into a different dimension where imagination rules, called the Never-Ever, and the women in her life must follow her in order to save her.
Talking to GamesRadar+ about whether there’s more to explore in this fascinating land of doors and monsters and fantasies and Escher-esque staircases, Wadlow explains: “I would love to revisit the Never-Ever. It’s such an interesting world that we’ve created with this film. It’s not just like a Chucky movie or anAnnabellemovie where there’s this sort of singular entity that’s the reason for the story, we are really tapping into a much bigger world and there’s a lot of stories there that could and should be told about the Never-Ever.”
With Wadlow raising the subject of Annabelle, itself a spin-off from James Wan’s enduringly successful Conjuring universe, it seems fair to hope that we’ll be seeing more tales coming out of the Never-Ever and its terrifying imaginary inhabitants.
We also spoke to the team behind the movieabout the inspirations behind itand whythe teddy bear caused carnage on set.
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Becky Darke is a London-based podcaster and writer, with her sights on film, horror and 90s pop-culture. She is a regular contributor to Arrow Video, Empire, The Evolution of Horror and The Final Girls.
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