He is known for the comedy sitcom series The Jaquie Brown Diaries and the horror films Housebound and M3GAN.
[3][4] In March 2014, Johnstone made his directorial debut with Housebound at the South by Southwest festival.
[7] Filming was scheduled to begin in 2016,[7] but as of 2023 Johnstone said, "It's been cooking in the background for a long time".
[9] By August 2017, Johnstone was reported to be in the running to direct Warner Bros.' Dark Universe, but instead was hired to polish the script.
[12] Producer James Wan chose Johnstone for the job after admiring his ability to balance horror and comedy elements in Housebound.