Deadline reports that CBS Films has acquired Flight 75, a thriller pitched by The Grudge director Takashi Shimizu, who will direct. Meanwhile, James Wan, director of the original Saw, is in final talks with New Line to direct The Conjuring. [Variety]
Described as “a claustrophobic thriller set on a transpacific airliner where the passengers encounter what appears to be a supernatural force,” Flight 75 will mark the English-language return of Shimizu, one of the more respected Japanese horror directors. Shimizu will re-team with producer Taka Ichise, who produced both the original Japanese The Grudge and it’s American remake and sequel, along with the original and remade versions of The Ring and Dark Water (among many, many others). They hope to have the project up and running by this fall.
Coming off the hit Insidious, James Wan in the final stage of talks to helm The Conjuring for New Line, an original script by Carey and Chad Hayes, “inspired by the supernatural events that happened in the Rhode Island home of the Perron family.” Shock Til You Drop has a bit more detail about the project, which will also feature –
Ed and Lorraine Warren, experts in paranormal activities who investigated and battled the activities occurring in the Perron household.
This project could be focused on the Warrens (and according to some comments on the Shock Til You Drop article, the Perron family in question had nothing to do with this project), and will quite likely be fictionalized to the hilt. This project will be produced by Peter Safran and Tony DeRosa-Grund through their company The Safran Group and there are no details on when production will start. 
Wan’s involvement makes perfect sense, especially given the success of the Saw series and Insidious. Both Wan and Shimizu are known for producing wildly successful, franchise-starting films on relatively small budgets. The remake of The Grudge grossed over $100 million on a $10 million budget, and Insidious has made roughly $75 million, having cost a little more than a million dollars to make.
I think the Japanese horror remake trend has been rightly squelched, but these are talented filmmakers who deserve more original projects. It will be interesting to see how these likely tame-budgeted projects take shape.
Would you rather see The Conjuring or Flight 75? Are you a fan of either of these directors?