We’ve been hearing for a while now that The Conjuring 3 will serve as a departure from the standard haunted house formula of the first two entries in this series, but it’s never been clear what the upcoming trilogy-maker intends to offer in its place.
Fortunately, this new report from Bloody Disgusting may have finally shed some light on the situation, suggesting that the drama this time will be centered around a high-stakes legal case. In a story that may or may not be “inspired by true events,” it is said that Ed and Lorraine Warren – played once more by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, respectively – investigate the case of a man on trial for murder who claims he was possessed by a demon.
This summary seems pretty in line with what producer Peter Safran previously said about The Conjuring Universe maintaining a consistent set of “core values and concepts” across the movies. That is to say, while the plot may be a little different this time around, the central conflict seems to still be a matter of faith versus skepticism.
One thing that will be different this time, however, will be the director. With James Wan currently hard at work on Aquaman, it was recently announced that the reigns have been handed over to Michael Chaves, a filmmaker whose feature debut is set to be a Wan-produced horror movie titled The Curse of La Llorona, which is scheduled for release this coming April.
After that, we’ll see how Chaves handles his first major franchise job when The Conjuring 3 hits theaters on September 11th, 2020. In the meantime, you can catch Ed and Lorraine Warren, along with their daughter Judy, in Annabelle 3, which comes out on July 3rd, 2019.