With The Conjuring 2 hitting U.S. theaters this weekend, talk has inevitably turned to the future of the eerie franchise. The tremendous success of James Wan’s first installment racked up over $300 million in box office receipts worldwide. This led to a sequel getting the greenlight shortly afterwards, which begs the question: when’s The Conjuring 3 entering development?
“It depends on what happens this weekend,” Wan told reporters prior to a screening of the sequel at this week’s LA Film Festival. He added that the Warrens’ rich history of paranormal experiences and investigations could easily provide a potential movie franchise with plenty of source material. “There could be many more movies because the Warrens have so many stories,” he said.
The movie’s screenwriters, Chad and Carey Hayes, who penned both chapters thus far are also keen as mustard to get cracking on a third. While they wouldn’t reveal any tentative ideas, they did reveal that there is one. “Yes, we definitely have a third in mind,” they said.
It’s early, early days on a potential trilogy-closer, or indeed, simply the next sequel in a long line of paranormal chillers. As Wan says, the fate of The Conjuring likely lies in how much green the sequel brings in this weekend. It’s up against Warcraft, which may be the victim to its middling reviews, and Now You See Me 2, which our own Matt Donato absolutely adored. Then again, he also loved The Conjuring 2.
Looks like only time will tell.