After very recently declaring that he would be taking a break from horror, James Wan is now gearing up to get back in the game to direct the hotly anticipated follow up to his hit film The Conjuring. Deadline broke the news that not only will Wan be directing the second installment in The Conjuring franchise, he has also inked a production deal with New Line that will see him directing a variety of horror, comedy, and sci-fi films – all with mid budget production price tags.
The sequel to The Conjuring is set to commence filming this summer. This news comes directly after New Line changing the film’s release date to 2016 which we know know was to allow Wan to complete publicity duties on Fast & Furious 7.
New Line president/COO Toby Emmerich was quoted as saying, “We had a great experience with James on The Conjuring, and we give him a lot of credit for that movie working so well. He worked on the screenplay and came to the table with very inventive things that were not in the script and cast it fantastically well. Add to that his work in producing Annabelle, and he is one of the masters of the genre and we’re happy to have him. You go through the list of possible directors of The Conjuring sequel, and his is the name you stop at, which is why we tried so hard to make this work.”
The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist was reportedly green lit prior to The Conjuring even having hit theaters. New Line and Warner Brothers had faith in the picture very early on. And their confidence proved to be well warranted. The Conjuring is one of the highest grossing horror films of all time. In fact, since the film’s release it has been classified as the fourth highest grossing horror film of all time. The story of Ed and Lorraine Warren struck a chord with audiences and their exploits will again take center stage in the 2015 sequel.
The Conjuring 2 is set to explore a case that the Warrens handled involving two sisters in Enfield, England. The women were possessed by a very nasty wraith and experienced a variety of nasty consequences. Lorraine Warren has previously referenced this case as one of the most terrifying of her lengthy career as a demonologist. New Line has reported that Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel) and Patrick Wilson (Insidious) will be reprising their roles as Ed and Lorraine Warren.
