Tomorrow night, a bunch of you will be joining us to get the dinges scared out you by Annabelle, which is not the name Darryn goes by when he puts on his pretty dresses, but also the new prequel to last year’s horror hit The Conjuring. While the spinoff saw John R. Leonetti taking the helm, the original was directed by James Wan who had made quite a name for himself as a scare-master by also directing Saw and the two Insidious films.
However, Wan got out of the horror game and into the hot hatchback game last year when he handed over the franchise to instead direct Fast and Furious 7 – although he still stayed on to produce Annabelle. But according to Deadline, Wan is now returning to the director’s chair for the upcoming The Conjuring 2 as part of a new deal he’s signed with New Line Cinema. This deal would also see him “develop and produce modest budget films in the science fiction, horror, and comedy genres”.
But before getting that development on, Wan will be tackling The Conjuring 2 as his next project. Unfortunately, “next” doesn’t mean soon, as this latest revelation follows the bad news that New Line has bumped the movie from its previously slated October 23, 2015 slot to an undisclosed date in 2016 for unknown reasons. An unknown horror movie has since been slotted to take its place.
With the first Conjuring – which told the “true” story of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga – pulling in an insanely profitable $318 million off just $20 million, there is pressure on the second film – which continues the adventures of the Warrens – to perform as well, and where New Line slots it into the ridiculously loaded 2016 movie calendar may just determine how well it performs.
Last Updated: October 22, 2014
