The buzz on The Conjuring has been strong ever since it was pushed back to a midsummer release, and with the horror film poised for a big debut this weekend, I think you probably know what's about to happen next. Variety reports that production company New Line (based at Warner Bros.)has already started developing a sequel to The Conjuring-- and unlike most sequels that start developing before a movie comes out, they're not even afraid to admit it.
“Horror is very much a part of the DNA of New Line — ‘Nightmare on Elm Street,’ ‘Friday the 13th,’ ‘The Rite,’ and the ‘Final Destination’ films,” New Line president Toby Emmerich told Variety. “This is as good a horror movie as we’ve ever made…. We think it will have great playability.” In The Conjuring Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson play real-life paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren, a married couple who discovered the story that become The Amityville Horror and investigated dozens of other cases over the years. Back when we visited the set everybody was pretty frank about hoping the real stories of the Warrens could help The Conjuring turn into a franchise-- in fact, at one point the movie was called The Warren Files, a title that seemed tailor-made for a bunch of sequels. The Warren Files: The Conjuring. The Warren Files: The Reaping. You get the idea.
Though the Variety report doesn't say anything about deals for talent beyond screenwriters Chad and Carey Hayes to return , Patrick Wilson was pretty frank about the possibility of him and Farmiga reprising their roles:
If the Warrens become a franchise, would you like to revisit this character?I don’t know who else would play him now. [Laughs] Vera and I wouldn’t have signed on for one not knowing that they didn’t want to do more. That’s just the nature of the beast.
The Amityville Horror and 2009's The Haunting in Connecticut are both based on Warren cases, which proves there's franchise potential there even before New Line gets started on making their version. If you're curious about what the next film might tackle, I highly recommend a visit to the Warrens' Wikipedia page, which highlights some of the cases they've investigated, from a man who claimed to be possessed by a "werewolf demon" to a murder trial in which a man who killed his landlord pleaded "Not Guilty By Reason Of Demonic Possession." Any one of them sounds like it could make a pretty good horror movie, especially in the capable hands of James Wan, who is a little busy with a Fast & Furious movie on his plate, but could theoretically make a second Conjuring movie afterwards. After all, he's managing to release both The Conjuring and Insidious Chapter 2 in a single year, so the guy's clearly not afraid of a little hard work.
Let us know in the comments if you're as excited for The Conjuring as New Line seems to think you are, and if you've got ideas for what the Warrens' next adventure should be, share them!
