James Wan's Conjuring universe has become one of Hollywood's most interesting cinematic worlds. The horror franchise has built up a solid reputation for delivering great scares and some truly memorable villains, and one of the most terrifying of the bunch is Valak, the demonic nun who first appeared in The Conjuring 2. The character will soon take center stage in director Corin Hardy's upcoming spinoff, The Nun, and now the first official look at Valak from the film has finally hit the web. Check it out, below.
We hope that you weren't planning on sleeping tonight, because that's thoroughly creepy. Taking an old-school horror approach to the look of the character, that first look keeps things mostly in black and white and maintains that painted look that made the character so iconic when she first appeared in front of Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) in The Conjuring 2. This picture doesn't offer up much in terms of plot details, but it definitely seems to bode well for the design of the character.
As far as plot details are concerned, The Nun will chronologically be the first Conjuring movie on the franchise timeline -- taking place several years before Annabelle: Creation. The film will follow a Catholic priest (Alien: Covenant's Demián Bichir) set to Romania by The Vatican to investigate the mysterious death of a nun at a monastery. Along the way, he will find himself face to face with the titular demon that has become the unofficial face of The Conjuring franchise.
There's already quite a bit of fan enthusiasm to see what happens in this movie. The Nun briefly received a tease in Annabelle: Creation during a scene in which Sister Charlotte (Stephanie Sigman) looked at an old photograph, and then again during a post-credits scene laying the groundwork for the upcoming spinoff. You can check out the post-credits scene, below.
If you're a Conjuring universe fan who has been looking forward to the release of The Nun, then you will have to wait a little longer than initially expected. The film was supposed to debut in the middle of summer, but it recently found itself hit with a delay to September 7. Though this means that the film won't debut quite as early as previously expected, the shift to the late summer slot could allow it to capture that same box office magic experienced by Andy Muschietti's IT in September 2017.
The Nun will premiere in theaters later this year on September 7. Check out the latest horror romp from The Conjuring universe when it finally premieres and keep an eye on our 2018 movie premiere guide to stay up-to-date on all of the latest and greatest film releases!
