With the huge success of The Conjuring, its sequel, and spin-off Annabelle — and three more spin-offs already on the way — is it any surprise that New Line Cinema has started to prep a third Conjuring film?
A scene from The Conjuring 2. Image: Warner Bros.
Deadline reports that the studio just hired Conjuring 2 screenwriter David Leslie Johnson to write The Conjuring 3. The story will once again be drawn from the real-life files of supernatural investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (who are played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga in the movies) but, according to one producer, the third film will break some new ground.
“Clearly we can’t do another haunted house movie, right?” Conjuring producer Peter Safran said recently. “We can’t do another supernatural possession in a house, with a family in peril. Right? So, it’s got to be something different than that, I think.”
He added, “There are some [cases] that maybe aren’t as well known, but [the Warrens] spent a fair bit of time researching and were part of [them].”
Another thing that will likely be different is the role of James Wan, who directed the first two films. Deadline suggests he won’t direct part three, he’ll just be back as a producer. To be fair, that was the plan on The Conjuring 2 as well, before Wan’s schedule changed and allowed him to make the movie. This time, though, Wan is already working on Aquaman, which won’t be released until Christmas 2018. That means the studio would probably have to wait 18 months for him, which is an eternity in Hollywood. You’d imagine, if possible, New Line would want Conjuring 3 out by the winter of next year.
Now officially called The Conjuring Universe, the horror franchise has several spin-off films in the pipeline: Annabelle: Creation opens August 10, and The Nun and Crooked Man are currently in development.
[Deadline]