James Wan Wants to Remake Nights at Chopping Mall and The Creeps

M3GAN producer James Wan named Chopping Mall and Night of the Creeps cult horror classics he'd love to try out for a remake.

M3GAN producer James Wan says he wants to remake Chopping Mall and Night of the Creeps. Horror fans are currently gearing up for some new killer doll action, as the much-touted M3GAN is ready to sneak out of movie theaters. Written by Malignant co-writer Akela Cooper, the film stars Alison Williams, a roboticist who builds an artificially intelligent doll to serve as a companion to her orphaned niece. Given that M3GAN is a Blumhouse film that Wan co-produced, it's no surprise that the robot dolls in the film quickly demonstrate the ability to kill.

Killer robots/dolls like M3GAN have of course been a staple of horror movies for a long time. Unsurprisingly, M3GAN producer Wan is a fan of one particularly rabid robotic masterpiece from the 1980s: the crappy cult classic Chopping Mall. In fact, in a recent conversation with /Film, Wan named Jim Wynorski's "Chopping Mall" as a horror film he'd love to try out for a remake. The 1986 comedy-horror "Chilling Nights" is also on Wan's personal list of old movies, and he hopes to recreate it. Check out Wan's comment in the space below:

"I have many horror films that I think that are just fun that I love, and I'm pretty sure the horror community shares them with me. I love movies like 'Chopping Mall.' I love 'Night of the Creeps.' These, to me, are just sort of fun horror films that I would love to be able to dive into one day, or do them but with the way that I make my films."

How James Wan Became A Modern-Day Horror Master

Wan clearly keeps things fresh in his process career, dabbling in the superhero genre in Aquaman and action in Fast & Furious 7, but the director is still mostly associated with horror. In fact, Wan shot to fame with the seminal torture porn film Saw and its sequel, Saw III. Wan would later move from gory horror to supernatural horror in Insidious, a film that launched a whole horror universe filled with sequels and spinoffs following the success of The Conjuring.

Wan's output from the original Saw to 2016's The Conjuring 2 does a good job of showing his directorial versatility. It's this ability to transition effortlessly between subgenres that has made Wan one of the most successful horror directors of the modern era. Of course, after The Conjuring 2, Wan completely shed his beloved horror genre. But it was big news when he returned to the thriller in 2021 with Maleficent, a movie many consider his masterpiece. Vicious really does seem to contain small snippets of every genre that Wan has dealt with over the years, including straight-up action. Unfortunately, Wan recently gave a disappointing update on the likelihood that Malignant 2 might happen.

What James Wan Will Do Next

Followed by DCU sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom About Wan's release schedule. After that, it's anyone's guess what the genre-crossing director will try. Maybe he'll really follow his bliss and seek out a remake of one of the cult classics he mentioned in his above remarks. Given the combination of the original film's stunning premise and disappointing execution, Chopping Mall would certainly be a ripe target for a remake. Creep Nights is also interesting material for Wan, considering the way it blends multiple horror genres. Regardless, the M3GAN producer brings an interesting twist to whatever horror story he decides to delve into next.

MORE: Every James Wan movie, ranked from worst to best (including Vicious)