At this point, they should just stop saying any movie is the end of a franchise. In the case of The Conjuring: Last Rites (review), meant to be the end of the line for paranormal sleuths Ed and Lorraine Warren, it became the highest-grossing movie of the series with $474M worldwide and counting. Obviously, that can’t be the end. So along with an upcoming HBO Max series, now comes word of a prequel movie that’s in the works.
Of course!!!
According to Jeff Sneider, The Conjuring will live on with a prequel film exploring the Warrens’ earliest cases. Rodrigue Huart is in talks to direct, with franchise veterans Richard Naing and Ian Goldberg writing the script. Naing and Goldberg wrote ‘Last Rites‘ and The Nun II, the last two movies in The Conjuring Universe.
Expect new actors to play Ed and Lorraine Warren after Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga made the real-life couple more famous than they ever were in their ghost-busting prime. James Wan is expected to be closely involved through his Atomic Monster label, as he has been since the beginning.
All of this just feels inevitable. The franchise has earned nearly $3B globally, and that is too lucrative to let slip away.
