‘Annabelle comes home’ are three words you don’t want to hear on a cold winter’s night – especially when it involves that Raggedy Ann doll that continues to haunt our dreams on a regular basis.
It is, of course, the breakout star of The Conjuring film series, Warner Bros. and New Line’s ever-evolving horror franchise that is about to take a dark turn this summer with the aptly titled Annabelle Comes Home. It’s the third spinoff movie featuring that by-now infamous doll, only this time, it’ll feature paranormal investigators/demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, who can be seen attempting to contain Annabelle in today’s new trailer.
They won’t do so alone, mind you, given the Warrens have sought help from a local priest to trap Annabelle behind a sheet of sacred glass. But such precautions are wasted on the real devil doll (no offense, Chucky), given Warner’s new trailer identifies Annabelle’s next target: the Warrens’ ten-year-old daughter, Judy, and her friends. Chaos ensues.
Perhaps most interesting of all is the fact that Gary Dauberman is poised to make his directorial debut with Annabelle Comes Home. If that name rings a bell, it should; not only has the screenwriter cut his teeth on The Nun and New Line’s It, but he’s penned scripts for the two previous Annabelle films, and therefore knows a thing or two about what makes this horror series tick.
Suffice it to say, Annabelle Comes Home appears to be in safe hands, not least because it has Aquaman duo Peter Safran and James Wan on board to produce. The latter is well versed in the Conjuring lore, having helped launch this most celebrated franchise back in 2013, while Safran has been involved in every single installment of Warner’s universe thus far. And he clearly has no intentions of letting up – especially when the Powers That Be already have plans for The Crooked Man.
Closer to, ahem, home, Warner’s third (and perhaps final?) Annabelle spinoff creeps into theaters on June 26th.