In the last six years, audiences have gotten to know the history of the malevolent doll known as Annabelle quite well. The movies of The Conjuring Universe, particularly those in her spin-off series, have done an excellent job filling in the details of her past, and to date we have now seen everything from her original creation to how she wound up in the custody of Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Now we’re about to see the release of Annabelle Comes Home, and as the title suggests, it very much takes things around full circle – letting audiences know about the evil entity’s activities after the events of The Conjuring. With it, the entire timeline is now filled in... but this leaves us with an question: will the Annabelle series come to an end as a locked trilogy? It’s a reasonable query, but it should be noted that that’s not how writer/director Gary Dauberman sees things.
Dauberman has been the man behind the Annabelle movies from the start, as he wrote the first two movies in the series before also making his directorial debut with the third chapter, so he’s kind of an authority on the matter. So when I asked him last week if he sees these films as a complete trilogy, it’s noteworthy that his response was no. Said the filmmaker,
I guess I think about a trilogy as a beginning, middle, and end, or like a first act middle act... that's how I look at it. But I think there's so many more stories to tell from her, because I really do think her evil is limitless in the way you can scare people. So I don't really look at it as a trilogy, or never did setting out when I was telling the story. I try to look at each movie sort of individual.
Apparently just because the spin-offs have essentially caught up with the franchise’s main series doesn’t mean that we’re done see narratives centered around Annabelle. It might seem like she is well contained in the Warren’s Artifact Room, but Gary Dauberman believes that there are still plenty of ways for her to be utilized in the center of a new horror story.
Plus, as I pointed out following his response, it’s not exactly like we have caught up with Annabelle in present day. The Conjuring 2 currently exists as the last movie on the franchise timeline, and that movie is set in 1977 – which means that there are still 42 years of mystery history for the doll.
You can watch Gary Dauberman discuss why he doesn’t see Annabelle Comes Home as a trilogy capper by clicking play on the video below.
So what will be next for Annabelle? A cameo in the developing The Conjuring 3 is certainly something that must be on the table, and that film is scheduled to start production later this year. But what about Annabelle 4? There haven’t been any official announcements yet, obviously, and Warner Bros. may be waiting to see how Annabelle Comes Home performs at the box office before making any definitive moves. Given the popularity of this brand, though, I wouldn’t bet against it.
Starring Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, and Katie Sarife, Annabelle Comes Home is arriving in theaters this Friday, June 28th – and we have tons more coverage of the film coming your way in the coming days from my interviews with the stars and filmmakers. So, as always, stay tuned here on CinemaBlend!
