When New Line Cinema indicated that it was developing a sequel to the 2013 horror film, The Conjuring, there was little surprise among moviegoers. On release, the original film became one of the highest grossing flicks of its genre, raking in a massive $318 million against a $20 million budget. Little progress had been visible, however, until the studio’s recent announcement of a new release date, and a full title – The Conjuring 2: The Endfield Poltergeist.
In the original film, the story follows paranormal investigators and authors Ed and Lorraine Warren (Farmiga and Wilson) – real people with real experience in the field of unexplained phenomena – as they assist the Perron family (Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor). The troubled couple and their five daughters find themselves bombarded by disturbing events at their new home in Rhode Island in 1971, and call on the expertise of the Warrens to help uncover the cause.
The surprise hit movie was directed by James Wan (Insidious) and written by Chad and Carey Hayes – all of whom return to those creative roles for the sequel. Though specific plot details are currently unknown (the title is not easily attributable to the couple’s most famous cases), it is assumed that the story will be based around further real experiences of the investigating couple, whose works inspired The Amityville Horror. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson will both reprise their roles.
Since The Conjuring took theatres by storm in 2013, we have seen the release of a spinoff movie – Annabelle, directed by John R Leonetti – centred around a particularly disturbing doll that appeared in the hit film. Though Annabelle received largely negative reviews, it too was successful in terms of box office – generating $244.1 million in ticket sales against a budget of just $6.5 million. With James Wan and the Hayes brothers returning to craft the story for The Conjuring 2: The Endfield Poltergeist, however, this bona fide sequel is expected to match the quality of the first film and set box office registers ringing once again, when it is released on June 10th, 2016.
