Lin Shaye says she successfully urged Sony to revive the sixth “Insidious” film after it was removed from the studio’s release slate, writing directly to chief executive Tom Rothman. Her intervention helped secure the greenlight for “Insidious: Out of the Further”, underlining both her importance to the long-running horror franchise and her view that performers should speak up when they feel powerless.

The film opened at No. 2 in the US box office with $25.3 million, behind “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” on $39 million, against an $18 million production budget. Shaye, 82, reprises psychic Elise Rainer in a story centred on astral projection, inherited trauma and motherhood; the franchise’s previous five films made about $800 million worldwide on comparatively low budgets.