So much attention has been paid to Warner Bros. and New Line’s future plans for their fledgling Conjuring universe that it’s almost easy to forget that the latest instalment, Annabelle: Creation, is right around the corner.
Pegged for theatrical release on August 11th, the nightmarish prequel comes to us by way of Swedish director David F. Sandberg, who made waves in Hollywood’s horror genre thanks to last year’s Lights Out – a skillful, expertly crafted thriller that had smarts and scares. What makes Lights Out all the more impressive is that it’s actually Sandberg’s feature film debut, after spending his early career crafting low-budget horror shorts. Now, he’s been offered a shot at the mainstream, and we couldn’t be more excited.
As the title suggests, Creation circles back to the origins of that titular, blood-curdling doll to tell the tale of a “dollmaker and his wife who, several years after the tragic death of their little girl, welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home. Very soon, however, they become the target of the dollmaker’s possessed creation, Annabelle.” And Annabelle has a taste for blood.
Directing from a script penned by Gary Dauberman, who worked on the original sleeper hit back in 2014, Annabelle: Creation features a cast comprised of Stephanie Sigman, Talitha Bateman, Lulu Wilson (Ouija 2), Philippa Anne Coulthard, Grace Fulton, Lou Lou Safran, Samara Lee, Tayler Buck, Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto.
It’s by no means the only horror prequel due to hit screens over the next two months either, as Lionsgate is also prepared to launch Leatherface in October, but as Annabelle: Creation shares DNA with the overarching Conjuring universe, we imagine horror fans will flock to theaters on August 11th in their droves.
Other projects in the works at New Line include spinoffs for The Nun and The Crooked Man, while there have also been rumblings of James Wan returning to helm The Conjuring 3.