Who knew that a humble $20 million horror movie from 2013 had so much franchise potential?
When The Conjuring first flickered into life five years ago, few would have thought that James Wan’s haunted house movie would spawn Hollywood’s next major cinematic universe, which now boasts four feature films (five if you count Julian Terry’s short film, The Nurse) with a fifth on the way.
We are, of course, referring to The Nun, Corin Hardy’s horror prequel poised to whisk viewers off to 1950s Romania, where the demonic Valak stalks an ancient monastery. It’s due for release early next month – September 7th, to be specific – meaning James Wan and Co. are currently doing the press rounds to drum up excitement for what is undoubtedly one of 2018’s big-name horror movies.
And here, the filmmaker, who currently has his hands full with Aquaman, reflects on building an entire cinematic universe out of The Conjuring.
One of the things that occurred to all of us is, they have a superhero universe, why can’t we do that in the horror world? When we were making the first Conjuring, it became very apparent to us that there could be a bigger universe, so many other great stories that would be awesome to look into.
It’s been an incredible journey for The Conjuring franchise, which typically spins out its horror experiences on a shoestring budget. Ditto for Annabelle and Annabelle: Creation, two creepy spinoffs that have been successful enough to warrant a threequel starring everyone’s least favorite devil doll. Look for that one to cast a shadow over theaters next summer.
Meanwhile, closer to home, The Nun comes knocking on September 7th. And it’s shaping up to be every bit as terrifying as we’ve come to expect from Warner’s series.