Universal Studios Hollywood has announced an all new maze for 2017, “Insidious: Beyond the Further,” inspired by Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures’ Stage 6 Films upcoming supernatural thriller, Insidious: Chapter 4.
The new maze will debut on Friday, September 15, with the opening of Halloween Horror Nights 2017 and will delve deep into parapsychologist Dr. Elise Rainer’s past, starting with a childhood in which her paranormal abilities emerged…until her mother’s untimely death by a demonic entity. Troubled by a lifetime of evil supernatural spirits trapped in the Further—a vacuous netherworld caught between the living and the dead—Dr. Rainer will take guests on an unsettling journey back in time through a portal into the Further…to defy the most depraved and intimidating beings that have tormented her since the 1950’s.
Insidious: Chapter 4 is scheduled to hit theatres nationwide on Friday, January 5, 2018 and is directed by series newcomer Adam Robitel and written by co-creator Leigh Whannell and produced by Insidious franchise regulars Jason Blum, Oren Peli and co-creator James Wan. The film stars Lin Shaye as Dr. Rainier, who faces her most fearsome and personal haunting yet: in her own family home.
UPDATE: After the announcement, Universal Studios Hollywood’s John Murdy took to twitter to share some additional details about the maze.
“This maze is based pretty heavily on the fourth installment of Insidious which comes out in January 2018. That means you’ll get to experience characters and elements from the film before it opens making the maze a living trailer for the film” tweeted Murdy.
According to Murdy the maze is being built in the Jurassic Park queue where the Halloween II maze was in 2016. The idea for the maze started a year ago when Murdy first read the script for Insidious: Chapter 4. This isn’t the first time Halloween Horror Nights has featured an Insidious maze. In 2013 the park debuted a maze based on Insidious 1 and 2, and in 2015 they featured Insidious 1-3. According to Murdy, both mazes were highly rated by Horror Nights guests and are in the top 5 of all time. For Insidious: Beyond the Further, characters Tucker and Specs will return to the front of the facade to interact with guests. They will also be the characters for this year’s nightly Twitter Password (More details to come on that later). Murdy rounded out his tweets saying that “While a lot of the maze is the new film, the ghosts and demons from the past Insidious films will also make an appearance in the maze.”
