The scriptwriter of the two previous films has been confirmed to return for the fourth installment of The Conjuring. Although The Conjuring Universe has grown to include films about other supernatural threats such as Annabelle and its two sequels, The Nun as well as its upcoming sequel, and Also the Curse of La Llorona, the core series has still been running strong after premiering in 2013 with James Wan’s The Conjuring, that also grossed $319.5 million on a $20 million budget. All three Conjuring movies follow the exploits of actual supernatural investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, respectively.
The first Conjuring, which aired in 1970 and had a cold open involving the haunting doll Annabelle, led the couple to a lonely farmhouse with a sordid history that was being terrorized by a terrifying monster. The Conjuring 2 (2016) led them to a poltergeist-infested property in England in 1977, which is linked to a vision Lorraine saw while researching the Amityville hauntings a year earlier. The most current installment, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, was released in 2021, and it follows the pair back to 1981 as they struggle to rid an imprisoned young man of a demonic affliction.
According to Deadline, the untitled sequel The Conjuring 4 has been officially announced, with screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick returning after working on The Conjuring 2 (alongside Chad Hayes, Carey W. Hayes, and James Wan) and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. The plot of the forthcoming sequel is being kept under wraps, but it has been announced that James Gunn and Peter Safran will rejoin to produce the film. As of this writing, neither any director has been appointed for The Conjuring 4.
The Future of the Conjuring Universe Is Better Than Ever
For a while, it appeared that The Conjuring Universe was running dry. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It had a lukewarm box gross by franchise norms, exacerbated by pandemic-averse audiences, a concurrent HBO Max release, and a more divided critical reception than its predecessors. At the same time, many of the planned spinoffs and sequels, such as The Crooked Man and The Nun 2, were either never released or were considerably delayed.
This news regarding The Conjuring 4 indicates, however, that this supernatural franchise is still alive and well. In addition to The Nun 2 making great progress after appearing to halt, now there are two Conjuring films on the horizon. It appears unlikely that there will be any future entries until the studio can analyze how these two new projects are working, but things are clearly looking brighter for lovers of The Conjuring Universe than they were even just few months ago.
Source: Deadline