Sometimes real life feels even too absurd for the movies, which is exactly how I felt when I read that comedian Matt Rife was buying The Warren’s houses and the Annabelle Doll. And, as insane as that headline reads, it's true. Now the director of the newly released The Conjuring: Last Rites, Michael Chaves, reacted to the information in a way I was not expecting.

Chaves isn’t clutching a crucifix over the Matt Rife headlines, mind you. However, the filmmaker is instead pitching a film that feels like it could be right at home on the upcoming horror movie schedule. When asked about the comedian buying Ed and Lorraine Warren’s former Connecticut home and becoming legal guardian of the Annabelle doll, the Nun II helmer laid out a concept to Entertainment Weekly, imagining a “Phase 2.” He explained:

Rife announced in early August that he’d “officially purchased” the Warrens’ home and Occult Museum, which helped launch the blockbuster horror movie franchise. The funnyman officially became the legal guardian of the haunted artifacts — including Annabelle — for at least five years, leaning into his long-standing obsession with the paranormal. That real-world setup is precisely what fires Chaves’ imagination: an influencer-era entry point that threads the Warrens’ lore through today’s attention economy.

Of course, Michael Chaves can’t resist leaning into the irony and absurdity of the cursed relics being turned into content. He continued:

Franchise-wise, the timing is tidy. The Conjuring: Last Rites is billed as the final on-screen outing for Ed and Lorraine Warren, but the broader Conjuring Universe of movies was built for side doors and spin-offs. Chaves’s pitch is basically a ready-made logline. A headline-grabbing caretaker films bite-sized encounters with infamous artifacts? Honestly, it feels like the sort of biting satire that Weapons and Barbarian director Zach Cregger is known for, and it could honestly be deeply revitalizing to the franchise.

The pitch also aligns with what these films do best: blending the intrigue of “based on a true story” with pulpy, demonic escalation. Rife’s guardianship also gives the series a modern conduit, turning the way mythology spreads today—through clips and viral moments—into the story itself.

Michael Chaves may be half-joking but, if Warner Bros. were to bite, the idea could be more viable than it sounds. Frankly, while I’ve enjoyed some Conjuring entries, more have been a miss for me. A new direction and era for the franchise would be a welcome change for this horror movie fan.

So far, the franchise’s next steps are unclear, aside from a previously announced series for those with an HBO Max subscription, set in the same horror world. Until then, fans can catch the latest (and possibly last) big screen entry, The Conjuring: Last Rites, now playing in theaters. Fans can all stream all of the films on the aforementioned streamer.

Move over, Monkey drummer popcorn bucket, because there’s a new horror movie merch icon in town, and she’s a whole lot creepier. With the upcoming The Conjuring: Last Rites set to hit theaters amid the 2025 movie schedule soon, Regal has revealed the latest collectible guaranteed to haunt your kitchen cabinet: the Annabelle popcorn bucket. As cool as it is, eaters beware, as you’re in for a scare if you're going to eat out of this container.

The Regal theater chain dropped the first look at the Conjuring bucket on Instagram. True to form, the possessed doll is just as unsettling when she’s holding your buttery treat as when she’s staring blankly from behind glass in the Warrens’ artifact room. Fans in the comments wasted no time declaring they “NEED” it — though you might want to think twice before digging in, unless you’re cool with Annabelle cursing your snack time:

This cool item is a bittersweet reminder that the final chapter in one of horror’s most successful franchises is nearly here. Last Rites is set to close out the long-running Conjuring Universe and sees paranormal investigators Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) tackling their last case. Trailers for the upcoming horror movie hint at a familiar evil tied to one of their earliest encounters, making it a fitting full-circle finale for a series that’s spanned more than a decade, inspired multiple spinoffs and delivered some of modern horror’s biggest scares.

S what better way to mark the end of an era than with an Annabelle popcorn bucket? Naturally, horror fans had plenty to say when Regal unveiled the collectible on social media. Let's take a look at some of the best comments:

• @alexandroarroy – Yeah I’m not bringing that home 😂
• @full_circlelife – You know what I think? This is one bucket I will skip.
• @lenny_tsents – How and where do we purchase this.
• @Jho_fra22 – Amoooooo 😍
• @Cinema1ine – Ok, I’ll be watching. I want that bucket🔥
• @theghoulishmortal – I fear this is a need.
• @zowzaaa – Nope☺️

For me, a longtime Conjuring fan, the choice of Annabelle makes perfect sense. The doll has been a fixture within the franchise ever since her first appearance in the Warrens’ artifact room in 2013’s The Conjuring, which led to three spinoff films centered around the doll. Yet, as cool as the bucket is, some fans are less amused and flat-out refuse to bring Annabelle into their homes. Honestly, that makes sense, given the somewhat creepy vibe of the admittedly creative bucket.

The Warrens’ stories blended real-life legends with cinematic scares, and this popcorn bucket blurs the line between fun collectible and haunted artifact. Even if you don’t believe in cursed objects, it’s hard not to feel a little uneasy reaching into Annabelle’s popcorn stash in a dark theater.

Fans can decide for themselves if they’re brave enough to dig into Annabelle’s cursed popcorn stash when The Conjuring: Last Rites hits theaters on September 5. Bucket or no bucket, the franchise seems determined to send horror lovers off with one final, unforgettable scare. In the meantime, stream past entries in the franchise with an HBO Max subscription.

We live in an age where there's so much real and sketchy information coming out, one sometimes has to drill down on due dilligence to make sure a piece of news is actually accurate. When I initially read the news that popular stand-up comedian Matt Rife purchased the house of Ed and Lorraine Warren, I 100% assumed it was a joke, because how could those words mashed up together not be a made up? After triple-dipple checking to confirm that bill of sale did indeed transpire, I need to see this turned into a TV series or documentary or something.

Yes, as horror fans wait for Conjuring: Last Rites to scare the pants off them, the comedian who blew up on TikTok has now put forth his hard-earned wages to purchase the home once owned by the paranormal investigators who sparked an entire industry. Oh, and on top of that, he's now in possession of the real-life Annabelle doll, which I only recently learned is a Raggedy Ann doll, and doesn't resemble the creepy toy in those movies. In any case, this whole situation is just begging to get turned into some kind of story that I'd immediately binge with a Netflix subscription (given that's the platform where his special streamed), and I'll tell you why.

The Situation Surrounding Matt Rife Acquiring The Warren House Is Rather Unsettling

It's worth noting that Matt Rife and YouTuber Elton Castee have been pursuing ownership of the Warren home for a while now, and long before it made news for another grim reason. Readers may remember hearing about how one man, Dan Rivera, passed away while on a tour of the home and in the presence of the now-iconic Annabelle doll.

WPRI.com reported that Rivera was actually going to be a partner in owning the home with Castee and Rife ahead of his passing, but that Rife only met him once a couple of years prior to his death. ,

It's pretty wild, given the spooky history surrounding Annabelle as well as the other occult items found in the Warren home, that one of the three future owners would die just a month before taking possession (so to speak) of the home.

All this being said, it's been reported there was no signs of foul play in Rivera's death. Thankfully, no one involved seems to be sensationalizing the death for the sake of driving tourism to the home.

The Spookiness Mixed With The Comedy Is The Main Appeal To Me

There's a golden opportunity here to mix comedy and horror, something that doesn't happen as often as I'd like. This is basically the premise that's as close as we could get to a plotline in Scary Movie, to the point I think it'd be a crime if someone didn't try to make a show out of it.

I also like the potential of using someone like Matt Rife to pull other celebrities into the fold. I know that Cardi B commented on the purchase, so maybe she and her boyfriend and NFL star Stefan Diggs could stop by and see all the scary stuff that's in the estate.

Let's also remember there's other comedians that could be featured on a show like this as well. Imagine The Conjuring with Dave Chappelle in the mix. I love the vision, though I guess they'd only be able to find as many celebrity guests that are willing to deal in stuff with a history of haunting individuals across decades, which may be a tall ask. If it can happen, though, consider me on board as officially wanting to see that.

Until we get some updates on a potential collaboration between Matt Rife and the The Conjuring universe, this whole idea will just have to remain on paper. Still, if someone isn't ideating the possibility of it happening, then what are we even doing here? Besides avoiding haunted dolls at all cost, obviously.

The Conjuring movies featured many dark forces like Bathsheba Sherman, The Crooked Man, The Occultist, and more. But the most prominent and subtle antagonist of the series is the Annabelle doll that is a vessel to a demonic entity. The toy is based on a real one from the case files of the real Ed and Lorraine Warren, and a lead investigator for the New England Society for Psychic Research recently died while touring with it.

The Evening Sun has reported sad news out of the Gettysburg from the Devils on the Run tour, which travels around the country with the Annabelle doll. On July 13, Dan Rivera, a senior lead investigator for the Connecticut-based New England Society for Psychic Research, died on that tour where he attended to show the “demonically possessed” toy (which, unlike its depiction in the movies, is an old Raggedy Ann).

Emergency crews responded to calls from a Gettysburg hotel where CPR was performed on Dan Rivera. Three days later, the Pennsylvania State Police shared a report with People providing more details on what happened to the lead investigator:

As of yet, no cause of death has been confirmed. Annabelle’s origins were first brought to the big screen in the first Conjuring movie. The film starts in 1968 with Ed and Lorraine visiting a nursing student who was gifted the doll and brought it back to her home.

The story is that strange occurrences took place with the nursing student and her roommate, and a psychic medium told them the doll possessed the spirit of a young girl named Annabelle. Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren were called in and kept the doll in a glass case to better contain any “evil” stored in it.

While the Annabelle doll made a brief appearance in the first Conjuring movie, the demonically possessed doll’s story was expanded in future movies. In the haunted doll’s first spinoff movie, Annabelle, we see the antique doll in possession of young couple John and Mia Form. After satanic cultist Annabelle Higgins breaks into their home, she bled to death while holding the doll to further bind the demon into it; the doll causes paranormal disturbances in an attempt to take Mia’s soul.

Annabelle: Creation connects back to the previous spinoff movie that told the origins of cultist Annabelle Higgins. We learn she was originally an orphan named Janice, possessed by a demon attached to the infamous creepy doll she encountered in her childhood. Then, set after the events of The Conjuring is Annabelle Comes Home: which sees the babysitter of the Warrens’ daughter and her friend accidentally open Annabelle’s case and unleash the evil inside.

What makes the demonic Annabelle doll so terrifying throughout the Conjuring universe is that she’s not like Chucky, who physically fights their foes. She’s a magnet for demonic energy in summoning or empowering evil spirits, a master of manipulation, and causes psychological torment without ever moving.

Our thoughts go out to the friends and family of lead investigator Dan Rivera. The New England Society for Psychic Research has said in their statement that they’ll continue its previously planned events of the tour, believing “Dan would have wanted the work to continue.” You can see Ed and Lorraine’s infamous Annabelle doll movies and the rest of The Conjuring series on your HBO Max subscription.

Ahead of the M3GAN 2.0 release date being the latest of upcoming horror movies on the way, as it arrives this Friday, it looks like the killer doll herself is doing press for her new movie. As you can imagine, her answers to journalists’ questions are beautifully unhinged. For example, she was asked about other iconic dolls and fellow Blumhouse property Five Nights At Freddy’s, and she dished out all the shade.

M3GAN Was Asked To Play Kiss, Marry, Kill With 3 Iconic Movie Dolls

When M3GAN was interviewed by popular media personality Trisha Paytas for the Just Trish Podcast, she was asked to play a little game of Kiss, Marry, Kill with a twist. Rather it being about our favorite movies/TV leads, she asked the A.I. robot to play the game with Billy the Puppet from Saw, Annabelle from The Conjuring universe and Chucky. Here’s what she said:

Well, there you have it. M3GAN is not looking for any kind of romance in the realm of other killer dolls, but she has the utmost confidence she would slay them all if given the chance. I mean, M3GAN does seem rather capable of taking down Annabelle and Chucky on size alone, and when it comes to Billy the Puppet, I don’t think she’d be very concerned with his sorts of limb-chopping games considering she doesn’t feel pain. The killer doll calling the beloved horror icons “ancient relics” is just too good as well.

But, I'm Especially Living For Her Answer About Whether She'd Spend Five Nights At Freddy's

But if you thought Billy, Chucky and Annabelle got a beating from M3GAN by means of her words, just wait until you read her Five Nights At Freddy’s comments. The doll was asked if she’d like to spend five nights at Freddy’s and she responded with these words:

Isn’t she just wonderfully brutal? Even more than wanting to see her interact with characters from Child’s Play, Saw and Annabelle, I feel like it would be rather satisfying to see M3GAN tear up the abandoned pizzeria crowded with creepy animatronic mascots. Given that both M3GAN and Five Nights At Freddy’s now belong under the same Blumhouse umbrella (with Five Nights 2 coming to theaters this December), it’s not impossible for the two properties to collide. Is this what the third M3GAN movie should be?

While M3GAN is a cold-blood killer in the first movie, the sequel’s plot actually charts a different path for the killer doll. Inspired by Terminator 2, she’ll become the hero this time around when an even worse robot is created from Gemma’s plans. Check it out for yourself this weekend.

Horror producer, director, and screenwriter James Wan is no stranger to incorporating killer dolls in his movies. When you look back at every James Wan movie, his breakthrough movie Saw had a creepy tuxedoed doll deliver messages to Jigsaw's victims, there was a ventriloquist dummy in Dead Silence, and a cursed doll brought to you by The Conjuring movies. With Wan's newest movie being M3GAN with the central figure being a killer doll once again, this Australian filmmaker talks about why he’s so obsessed with killer dolls.

M3GAN follows an artificially intelligent robot made by a roboticist with the intention of protecting her niece left in her care after the loss of her parents. But as robots don’t know anything about limits, this robotic doll will use any means necessary to protect whoever is in her care, including murder. As reported by EW, James Wan spoke about what inspired him to have killer dolls be prominent in his works.

Dolls really do bring out a creepy vibe. Imagine trying to go to sleep only to see a porcelain doll or even one of your stuffed animals staring straight right at you. Anyone half awake would think that doll with its hauntingly permanent grin turned its head just a little bit in your direction. All seven Chucky movies brought out the audience's fear of killer dolls. You may think an innocent doll like Chucky just involves flinging him across the room, only to discover he has a force just as strong as a human’s. While Chucky was pure fiction, the Annabelle movies were based on an allegedly haunted doll housed by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. There was even an incident when a Pennywise doll mysteriously turned up in a woman’s yard, causing her to burn it. If dolls could really be a vessel for dark spirits, you better believe the horror genre greatly benefits from that possibility.

Not only are dolls featured in James Wan’s movies, but in his home as well. The Insidious director continues to speak about a particular hobby of his that further incites his creepy doll fascination.

No wonder in the movie M3GAN, the character of Gemma has a collection of classic toys of her own. One of the best things about the horror-comedy film was that the character of M3GAN was not a figure created in CGI. If you’re wondering if she’s real or animated, you can consider her both. Every medium shot of M3GAN was done with six or seven different puppets. Every shot where she's walking or movements she does for that viral dance scene was real child actor Amie Donald wearing a mask. Moments when her face was moving, her eyes blinking, audio control, and other mechanical functions were animatronic. If M3GAN relied solely on CGI, the doll’s creepy demeanor wouldn’t have been as convincing or helped it achieve a super high rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Thank you, James Wan, for showing the movie industry that practical effects can still be very effective for a successful horror film.

James Wan’s creepy doll obsession has given us some memorable hits for the horror franchise. With a sequel of M3GAN in the works, hopefully, we’ll still see the use of killer dolls make a return to the big screen. Watch this killer doll sing, dance, and slay in the 2023 release of M3GAN in theaters now.

When it comes to scary movies, there’s been one horror universe that has been taking over the genre for nearly a decade now, and that is The Conjuring universe, tales of spooky ghost stories, haunting demons, and terrifying true experiences. From the moment The Conjuring was released in theaters, it opened a path for sequel after sequel, spinoff after spinoff, and has created a whole entire universe full of horror tales.

However, which one of these is the best? Is it The Conjuring films? Or The Annabelle films? Or something completely different? While we wait for The Nun 2, we've ranked all the Conjuring Universe movies so far

8. The Curse Of La Llorona (2019)

Following an old Latin American folktale, The Curse of La Llorona tells the story of a mother in 1973 Los Angeles, who has to save her children from a malevolent spirit, who is trying to steal them from her.

Look, I grew up in a Latino family. I’ve read the horror story of La Llorona several times. When this film was first announced, I was excited to see it be brought to life on the big screen and in The Conjuring universe. But to be completely 100% honest – this movie was a letdown from start to finish. The original folktale has so much lore and potential, but The Curse of La Llorona only caters to fans of jump-scares and cheap terror – something no one likes in a horror film. Plus, it barely ties into The Conjuring films. It’s just bad.

7. Annabelle (2014)

In Annabelle, we go over the origin story of the doll featured originally in The Conjuring, which is named by Ed and Lorrain Warren, and how she got the reputation that this demonic doll is known for.

Annabelle was the first spin-off of The Conjuring due to how popular it became, and to be honest, it’s one of the worst. Like The Curse of La Llorona, the scares aren’t the best and the story could have been better expanded on, especially for a doll that is so well-known in the horror community now. But that’s why its successors are higher on this list – because those dive into the story, as we’ll see.

6. The Nun (2018)

Moving into more religious territory now, we look at The Nun, another spinoff of The Conjuring. A young nun at a cloistered abbey in Romania takes her own life, a pair with their own issues is sent to investigate her death, but discover the order’s unholy secrets

Again, I had so much hope for this film. I've always really enjoyed stories that involved religion in the horror world because there’s always so much you can do with demons, ghosts, and more. But The Nun falls flat in the regard. While I do like some of its scares more than the previous two on this list, it’s just not on par with what a movie like this should have been. When I think of a religious horror movie, I think of The Exorcist or The Omen, but this felt nothing like that.

5. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

The third film in the actual The Conjuring franchise within this universe is titled The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. In this recent film, Ed and Lorraine Warren are witnessing an exorcism of a young boy, but the demon ends up entering the body of Arne Johnson, a man that used demonic possession as a defense during a murder trial in 1981.

While The Devil Made Me Do It is definitely the least-best The Conjuring film, it’s certainly a lot more entertaining than its predecessors. The idea of a court case driven by demonic possession is something that is so rare and strange that it turned this film into a very entertaining one, creating some great scares, eerie moments, and amazing acting from both Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson. While it’s not my favorite The Conjuring film, it’s a good one to still re-watch and leaves plenty of questions.

4. Annabelle Comes Home (2019)

Annabelle Comes Home is the third film in the Annabelle franchise and the sequel to Annabelle. In this film, the Warrens have now locked Annabelle in their Artifacts Room, where she can no longer hurt anyone. However, she somehow awakens the evil within the room and sets its sights on their daughter, and her babysitter, and her friend, torturing them.

I think what makes this such a better sequel than the original Annabelle is that we really get to focus in on the Warrens. While a lot of these other films are focused on main characters that feel like they’re just there for shocks, we get to hear about the history of the Warrens, learning about true cases, and seeing their family and what it was like to live with all these scary items and presences in their home. Plus, Annabelle Comes Home is really the first Annabelle film I genuinely felt creeped out during. But one other Annabelle movie comes before this.

3. Annabelle: Creation (2017)

Annabelle: Creation is the second film in the Annabelle franchise, and serves as a prequel to Annabelle. In this horror movie, a dollmaker and his wife lost their little girl twelve years ago, and decide to welcome in a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home. But soon, they are all tortured by the dollmaker's possessed creation, Annabelle.

I loved Annabelle: Creation because we actually got a legit story in this one. We got to learn the lore of Annabelle, where she came from, and how she became the horror tale that she is now. While we all know that the real Annabelle is actually just an old Raggedy-Ann doll, Annabelle: Creation still uses those stories from the past and creates a truly frightful experience. Definitely the best Annabelle in the franchise thus far.

2. The Conjuring 2 (2016)

The sequel to the original film, The Conjuring 2, follows the story of the Warrens traveling to the United Kingdom to assist the Hodgson family, who are experiencing ghostly activity in their home in 1977, which later was referred to as the Enfield poltergeist.

The Conjuring 2 is a great continuation of the first film. There are some amazing scares, the same eerie and creepy plot, and again, the fabulous acting from both Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, except this time we get to travel all the way across the world. I feel like that added aspect really makes this film tick because it’s like we know that this sort of haunting could happen anywhere, and still create horrible rippling effects on families' lives. However, of course, only one film can beat this.

1. The Conjuring (2013)

In the original The Conjuring, the Warrens attempt to help a family who is terrorized by a dark presence within their homes, where the terror only seems to grow more and more by the day.

There’s a reason why the original The Conjuring is first on this list. No one can quite beat this film. The story is fantastic, the atmosphere set perfectly, great acting performances – the movie is wonderful all-around. And for the first time in this franchise, I walked out of the theater of this one with a genuine sense of unease and felt myself checking my closets before I went to bed. It’s an awesomely scary movie, and one horror fans all need to see if they haven't.

While some of these may be some of the best horror movies ever, and some might not be, there’s no denying the impact The Conjuring franchise has had on the horror movie universe. With all these scary films, it gets me wondering about the upcoming horror movies coming out soon. Now if only they could make a film about The Crooked Man. That would be something I’d like to see.

There are Mary Shaw’s dummies in Dead Silence, the creepy puppets from the Puppet Master franchise, that fiendish clown from Poltergeist, and even Gary Busey as The Gingerdead Man. Yet, there are no bloodthirsty inanimate objects quite as iconic as The Conjuring’s Annabelle or the main boogeyman found in Child’s Play, Chucky.

Annabelle and Chucky have been terrorizing unsuspecting innocents for decades, if you count the alleged real-life haunting history that inspired Annabelle, but more on that later. The killer dolls both returned to the big screen this summer in Annabelle Comes Home and a modern reimagining of Child’s Play with a new twist on the character and featuring the voice of Mark Hamill.

While Annabelle Comes Home has made double the killing at the box office over the Child’s Play remake, the real competition lies in the question of which of these dolls is the deadliest. While there is little chance of an Annabelle vs. Chucky crossover movie anytime soon, we can have our own little hypothetical battle right here. Who will win?

Annabelle

Other than Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s portrayals of real-life demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, the most essential connective tissue of The Conjuring Universe is little, creepy-ass doll known as Annabelle. Behind her lingering stare and devilish grin is exactly what you might expect: pure, relentless evil.

Inspired by Ed and Lorraine Warren’s investigation of a haunted Raggedy Ann doll in the 1970s, Annabelle turned out to be a real scene-stealer in James Wan’s 2013 smash hit The Conjuring before starring in her own self-titled spin-off a year later and its sequels: Annabelle: Creation in 2017 and Annabelle Comes Home this year. The character, or “artifact” if you will, has since become, arguably, the most recognizable symbol for evil in The Conjuring Universe.

The thing is, that is all Annabelle really is: a symbol. The doll itself does not walk, talk, or even kill. Other than the occasional slow head turn or suspension of gravity, Annabelle rarely moves because the doll is merely a vessel for which a demon attaches itself to in order to wreak havoc on anyone near.

The demon in question, however, is one mean son of a gun. It manipulates objects and people’s minds’ to nightmarish effect, throws people across rooms like a piece of garbage, has no sympathy for children, and when its appearance is revealed during a pivotal scene of 2014’s Annabelle, it makes the initially unsettling doll appear as friendly as a Barbie.

Annabelle has the bare minimum of requirements to make you an assured victim of pediophobia (fear of dolls). However, if you already had a fear of dolls prior to the birth The Conjuring Universe, perhaps it was the fault of Annabelle’s opponent in this competition for deadly doll superiority.

Chucky

It may sound like the name that bears purity and innocence, but nowadays, when you hear the name “Chucky,” you cannot help but picture the sociopathic, red-headed, bloodthirsty menace. He is a selfish, uncompromising merchant of death driven by his own inhumanity, most likely because he is barely human himself.

At one time, Chucky was the human Lakeshore Strangler Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) until Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon) shot him in the chest in the climax of an intense chase through a toy store at the beginning of 1988’s Child’s Play. With his fate quickly approaching, Ray finds a solution in a doll part of the popular “Good Guy” toyline, which he transmits his soul into by the use of black magic.

When Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks) finds a good deal on a “Good Guy” for her son Andy (Alex Vincent) from a street peddler, on the very night she brings it home, strange and tragic things begin to happen. Soon, she discovers that her son’s toy is a new incarnation of a sadistic, foul-mouthed murderer who will stop at nothing to find a new human body to take over.

What sets Chucky apart from other possessed toys of sinister intent is that he has a real “animated” personality that is bigger than his own body, aside from the fact that he is able to walk and talk in his mostly rubber form. He is a criminal of passion, in the sense that he has a real passion for cold-blooded murder and has a snarky quip to follow every kill as an expression of his satisfaction.

While Chucky’s kills are often very gruesome and he obviously loves his knife, he has also been known to take advantage of the supernatural to aid him in his treachery. In the original Child’s Play, when Charles Lee Ray is not strangling innocent people in cold blood, he is practicing voodoo with the help of a man named Dr. Death (Raymond Oliver), whom Chucky, in his doll body, later kills using a voodoo doll.

It is also through the use of voodoo that Chucky transmits the soul of Tiffany Valentine (Jennifer Tilly) into the body of a doll to make her his wife in Bride of Chucky. It also explains how Chucky manages to return for a Child’s Play sequel (which there are six) no matter how many times he is “killed.”

The secret to Chucky’s enduring villainy is not black magic, however, but the love of his fans. Horror hounds come back to see the killer doll in action, even when things got really weird in Seed of Chucky when he and his bride Tiffany have a child, because his dark wit and inventive sadism has made him one of the most beloved slashers in cinematic history.

Annabelle Vs. Chucky

What scares you more: A knife-wielding, trash-talking toy brought to life by the soul of a serial killer or a doll with a grim, unchanging expression with an unwaveringly evil spirit attached to it?

The similarities between Chucky and Annabelle, in essence, begin and end with the juxtaposing appearances of being harmless child’s playthings with more sinister agendas. With that in mind, both have the advantage of being the last suspect any logically-minded person would consider in a murder investigation and could make any deadly occurrence look like an accident.

As for how deadly each doll really is, Annabelle, despite a few fatal encounters, has never been much of a killer. The demon that resides in the doll is less concerned with taking lives and more interested in claiming souls in attempt to possess the living.

Chucky has a similar goal, given that his plastic body was only meant to be temporary at first, but he has no trouble slashing people up until he finds a human host. In fact, as of 2017’s Cult of Chucky, the doll has racked up a body count of 38 since the original Child’s Play, with a new inventive method for each victim and funny quip to match.

Annabelle, even during her films’ most frightening moments, is never the scariest thing about a scene. The doll’s unchanging expression is deeply unsettling, but severely lacks in personality.

What makes Chucky so entertaining and memorable is how animated and menacing he is and his relentlessness to keep anyone out of his way, even after “death,” makes him a force to be reckoned with. Annabelle is not nearly as deadly and will never be as iconic as Chucky.

Annabelle, your grim expression and demonic deeds make you the stuff of nightmares. However, Chucky’s endless tirade of carnage and gigglishly evil and lively persona earns him this win.

This poll is no longer available.

In the last six years, audiences have gotten to know the history of the malevolent doll known as Annabelle quite well. The movies of The Conjuring Universe, particularly those in her spin-off series, have done an excellent job filling in the details of her past, and to date we have now seen everything from her original creation to how she wound up in the custody of Ed and Lorraine Warren.

Now we’re about to see the release of Annabelle Comes Home, and as the title suggests, it very much takes things around full circle – letting audiences know about the evil entity’s activities after the events of The Conjuring. With it, the entire timeline is now filled in... but this leaves us with an question: will the Annabelle series come to an end as a locked trilogy? It’s a reasonable query, but it should be noted that that’s not how writer/director Gary Dauberman sees things.

Dauberman has been the man behind the Annabelle movies from the start, as he wrote the first two movies in the series before also making his directorial debut with the third chapter, so he’s kind of an authority on the matter. So when I asked him last week if he sees these films as a complete trilogy, it’s noteworthy that his response was no. Said the filmmaker,

Apparently just because the spin-offs have essentially caught up with the franchise’s main series doesn’t mean that we’re done see narratives centered around Annabelle. It might seem like she is well contained in the Warren’s Artifact Room, but Gary Dauberman believes that there are still plenty of ways for her to be utilized in the center of a new horror story.

Plus, as I pointed out following his response, it’s not exactly like we have caught up with Annabelle in present day. The Conjuring 2 currently exists as the last movie on the franchise timeline, and that movie is set in 1977 – which means that there are still 42 years of mystery history for the doll.

You can watch Gary Dauberman discuss why he doesn’t see Annabelle Comes Home as a trilogy capper by clicking play on the video below.

So what will be next for Annabelle? A cameo in the developing The Conjuring 3 is certainly something that must be on the table, and that film is scheduled to start production later this year. But what about Annabelle 4? There haven’t been any official announcements yet, obviously, and Warner Bros. may be waiting to see how Annabelle Comes Home performs at the box office before making any definitive moves. Given the popularity of this brand, though, I wouldn’t bet against it.

Starring Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, and Katie Sarife, Annabelle Comes Home is arriving in theaters this Friday, June 28th – and we have tons more coverage of the film coming your way in the coming days from my interviews with the stars and filmmakers. So, as always, stay tuned here on CinemaBlend!

The Conjuring Universe has been a flourishing franchise ever since it launched in 2013, but after six years and six movies, it finds itself at an interesting juncture. While everything has been working well (some releases being better than others), it’s now getting to a point where a degree of brand reinvention is necessary – taking the established rules and aesthetics and applying a fresh spin that stops them from ever feeling stale. Not only does this kind of move keep the audience engaged, but it creates more opportunities for diverse storytelling going forward as the guidelines become less rigid.

It’s with this in mind that one could say that Gary Dauberman’s Annabelle Comes Home is arriving at the perfect time. Not only is it an exceedingly fun ride – full of well-drawn, charismatic characters and an army of ghastly ghouls – but it’s also a breath of fresh air for The Conjuring Universe that both surprises with a lighter touch and demonstrates the incredible potential for the expanding continuity. It’s small in scale, but rich in depth, and an exciting debut for a first-time director.

Taking place between the events of The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, Annabelle Comes Home reveals that the terrifying titular doll didn’t end her reign of horror after being taken into the custody of Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga). The demonologist duo may have locked her up in their artifact room in 1970, but this film demonstrates her continued ability to unleash all kinds of hell given even the slightest opportunity.

The story begins in earnest a year after the Warrens captured Annabelle, and primarily centers on their daughter, Judy (Mckenna Grace), who isn’t in a great place emotionally due to a widespread newspaper article exposing what her parents do for a living. She’s ostracized by the other kids at school, which is a situation made worse by the fact that she has a birthday coming up and low expectations for party attendance. The silver lining is that she has the support of her babysitter, Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman), who does what she can to encourage and defend the young girl.

With the Warrens set to go out of town for a night, Mary Ellen agrees to stay over and look after Judy – but what is a fairly normal circumstance is made abnormal with the presence of Daniela (Katie Sarife), who is Mary Ellen’s best friend and possesses a dangerous curiosity about her bestie’s employers. It’s this curiosity that leads Daniela to sneak into the famed artifact room after bedtime and open the case containing Annabelle – and in doing so demonstrates why there is a big sign on the glass that reads “WARNING! POSITIVELY DO NOT OPEN.”

Annabelle acts as a conduit for evil things, which means that she essentially acts as a battery for the artifact room, and Judy, Mary Ellen, and Daniela are forced to find a way to contain her before she gets too powerful.

What particularly makes Annabelle Comes Home stand out is that while it’s presented as another variation of a haunted house story with demons and spirits terrorizing innocents, it executes its narrative with a much lighter tone than its in-canon predecessors. While previous chapters have taken sharper aim at generating nightmares, this is a horror movie particularly aimed at audiences who have fun being scared by horror movies. It’s not a horror-comedy, as it never prioritizes laughs over screams, but what it does do tremendously well is generate post-scream laughs, as there’s an enchanting quality to the cleverness and creativity behind the wild monster-fest.

Of course, the opportunities for cleverness and creativity are available because of the wide variety of terrors that the film throws at movie-goers – which is another way of saying that Annabelle Comes Home takes full and wonderful advantage of its central premise. Gary Dauberman very clearly had a blast doing a head-first dive into the case files of Ed and Lorraine Warren, and an atmosphere is created where you never have a clear idea of what’s going to be thrown at you next (and offering up specific examples here would be too spoilery).

One also can’t ignore the epic list of potential spin-offs that the movie could inspire, as there are more than a couple of evil entities featured that could eventually generate their own special branch of the Conjuring Universe.

Excellent and creepy as the monsters and their presentation may be, however, they don’t function properly if you don’t care about the people they are terrorizing – but that’s also a non-issue for this feature. It starts with Judy being an empathetic figure who also possesses a level of authority and agency, making it easy to connect with her; and the compassion demonstrated towards Judy by Mary Ellen immediately gets you on her side as well. Even Daniela, who you might think would be irredeemable given her irresponsible actions, is given redemption because she has multiple dimensions and legitimate motivation for what she does. It’s smart writing supported by superb performances.

Having written the previous two Annabelle movies as well as The Nun, Dauberman applies his experience telling stories in this universe well in the making of Annabelle Comes Home, but also exciting is how you can clearly see their influence in his directorial style as well. He has very clearly studied the work of his colleague and master of horror, James Wan, and has implemented the best lessons into his work – replete with sweeping camera movements, lingering images, and eerie use of negative space. Scares are earned through atmosphere instead of simple jumps and musical cues, which makes the experience more satisfying than exhausting. It’s an impressive debut.

Annabelle Comes Home cements the Annabelle trilogy as a rare series that gets better with every installment – which is particularly notable given the quality of the prequel-prequel Annabelle: Creation. It’s canny in its approach, savvy in its execution, and may very well be a game-changer for the most successful horror franchise running.

While it hasn’t been advertised as such, Michael Chaves’ The Curse Of La Llorona is most definitely a part of The Conjuring Universe. Its posters may only say “From The Producers Of…” instead of referring to it as the next chapter in the franchise (as was the case for both Annabelle: Creation and The Nun), but its actual connection is very clear – specifically through the return of Tony Amendola's Father Perez from the original Annabelle. Given the popularity of the brand, this might strike some as odd, but there arguably is a good reason for it: it’s the first non-Conjuring title that’s neither a direct spin-off nor a sequel to a direct spin-off.

Simply put, the film doesn’t fit in with the same development strategy that has established The Conjuring Universe to date. The reason why John Leonetti’s Annabelle and its follow-ups exist is because of the immense popularity the titular doll earned from her small part in James Wan’s original The Conjuring; and Corin Hardy’s The Nun got the greenlight because of the response to the habit-sporting demon from Wan’s The Conjuring 2. The Curse Of La Llorona, meanwhile, has roots in urban legend, but no actual connection to the other movies beyond Father Perez’s small role. It’s a surprising move for sure – but it’s also hard to say if it’s a good or bad one for the future of the franchise.

Certainly the biggest positive featured in this development is the increased potential for more diverse storytelling. As successful as The Conjuring Universe movies have been, the limitations present in its choices thus far are pretty obvious, as the “spin-off only” idea does put filmmakers in a box of a certain design. Every new property has to not only follow certain rules previously established by different writers and directors, but there is also a certain expectation for a degree of narrative dovetailing that basically forces every story to end in a specific place that matches up with a previous title.

To his credit, Gary Dauberman – who wrote the scripts for Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation, The Nun, and the upcoming Annabelle Comes Home (which he’s also directing) – has made this work for the most part, but the creative freedom offered by the Curse Of La Llorona approach is clear. While it’s cool that Father Perez makes his second big screen appearance, it’s really more of an Easter egg than anything, and everything else about the movie is able to really do whatever it wants – including establishing the “rules” for its eponymous evil spirit and how it concludes the arcs for its characters.

Following the release of The Curse Of La Llorona, really any horror film that shares The Conjuring Universe’s perspectives on “good” and “evil” and approach to the supernatural could arguably be included in the larger continuity – and that could lead the franchise in a lot of new and interesting directions.

Where this becomes a drawback and potential hazard for the brand, however, is the subject of identity and specific definition. Since 2013, the core of The Conjuring Universe has been Ed and Loraine Warren – the protagonists played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga based on the real life demonologist duo. Albeit very loosely, the films in the franchise have to this point been based on the legends surrounding their exploits, and have always tied back to them in one way or another.

With The Curse Of La Llorona now being an exception, it raises an important question: what is The Conjuring Universe really about? If stories aren’t specifically expanding on the myths and terrors that the Warrens personally experience, does that mean that the franchise will eventually develop into being simply a collection of titles that share a genre and maybe the occasional single character? That’s far less interesting, and could eventually dilute the whole enterprise into nothingness.

How things move forward from this point will definitely be interesting. As of right now there are seemingly only spin-offs and sequels in development – including the aforementioned Annabelle Comes Home, The Conjuring 3, The Nun 2, and The Crooked Man – but given the way The Curse Of La Llorona was promoted it’s possible any horror title currently being developed by Warner Bros. has the potential to be brought into the continuity. Ultimately it may be the audience’s response to the new release that determines everything, and you can be sure that we’ll be keeping a close eye on it.

We’ve seen many film franchises try to launch cinematic universes in the last decade, but few have been as immensely successful as what has been built with The Conjuring Universe, which includes some of the best horror movies of all time. The ball started rolling in 2013 with the massively successful James Wan film that gave the brand its name, and while there weren’t really initial ambitions to create something bigger, everything changed when John Leonetti’s Annabelle turned into a $250 million global hit one year later. Since then the spooky world has grown and grown, and as of 2023 it has nine titles in canon.

With all that growth can come a little confusion, however, as each new release is set in a different time period and has specific connections to previous stories. It’s in aim of eliminating that confusion that we’ve built this feature. In hopes of helping fans fully grasp the breadth of The Conjuring Universe, we’ve put together this timeline to both linearly illustrate the events we’ve seen so far, and show how the titles link to one another. So without further ado, let’s start at the start by taking a step back in time to the 1950s…

The Nun

Setting: 1952

While there are scenes in other Conjuring Universe titles that take place before it, Corin Hardy’s The Nun is featured first on the timeline because the primary events in the story take place before all of the other narratives in the franchise – specifically taking us back to the year 1952. It was at this time that Father Burke (Demian Bichir) and Sister Irene (Tessa Farmiga) were sent by the Vatican to Romania in hopes of uncovering the details behind the mysterious suicide of a nun. Unfortunately for them, it led to a direct confrontation with the demon known as Valek (Bonnie Aarons), and while they were ultimately able to escape with their lives, the events also saw the horrifically evil entity let loose on the world.

Being set so early on the timeline and taking place in Eastern Europe, The Nun isn’t as directly tied into the events of The Conjuring Universe as many of the other movies, but it does feature some key details. Not only does it show us the origins of the main villain from The Conjuring 2, but it also provides an interesting link to one of the Warrens’ most dangerous cases, as seen in The Conjuring.

Annabelle Creation

Setting: 1955

As the name of the film implies, David F. Sandberg’s Annabelle Creation is designed as an origin story for its titular character, literally showing how the seriously creepy porcelain toy came into existence. Technically it all kicks off in 1943, as that was when doll maker Samuel Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia) first designed Annabelle for his daughter (Samara Lee), but the majority of the story takes place in 1955 – which is when Samuel and his wife Esther (Miranda Otto) agreed to take in the children from a shuttered orphanage, as well as their caretaker Sister Charlotte (Stephanie Sigman). It was at this time that the doll not only started to get stronger, but also took its first victims.

This is obviously a table-setter for all of Annabelle’s adventures in The Conjuring Universe so far, showing how she first became possessed and the initial efforts that were taken to contain her power. And while those efforts were successful for a while, it took about 12 years for her special brand of chaos to be one again unleashed upon the world.

The Nun II

Setting: 1956

Set a year after Annabelle Creation but featuring absolutely zero connections to it (in part because it is set an ocean away), The Nun II is a direct follow-up to The Nun and follows the further adventures of Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) and Maurice “Frenchie” Theriault (Jonas Bloquet). Since the two parted ways after seemingly defeating Valak (Bonnie Aarons) in Romania, Maurice has unknowingly been the source of a plague stretching across Europe. Not knowing that her old friend is the cause, Sister Irene is sent to investigate a series of mysterious deaths that Maurice has left in his wake, leading them to reunite at an all-girls boarding school in Aix-en-Provence, France.

The ending of The Nun II doesn't quite work within the continuity of The Conjuring Universe, as it acts to disrupt the link between The Nun and The Conjuring mentioned earlier, but the mid-credits scene in the film, according to director Michael Chaves, is meant to ensure fans that the filmmakers have not forgotten about the Maurice's dark fate.

Annabelle

Setting: 1967

Despite Annabelle’s very small role in The Conjuring, audiences quickly fell in love with her, and Warner Bros. acted quickly to take advantage of that affection. But with the movie having already established how she ended up in the possession of Ed and Loraine Warren, the first Annabelle spin-off had to find a different story to tell –which is why it wound up being set in 1967. Inspired by the cult murders of the era, specifically the actions of the Manson family, it tells a rather self-contained tale about the terrors that the titular doll can induce, specifically torturing a couple of new parents (Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton) who wind up with her in their possession.

Despite being the first of its own series, John Leonetti’s Annabelle is arguably best seen as a middle chapter sandwiched between Annabelle Creation and Annabelle Comes Home. Its connections to the rest of the Conjuring Universe are minimal, but it does fill a key gap in the timeline between Annabelle’s “birth” and her time in the hands of the Warrens.

Annabelle Comes Home

Setting: 1970

The central premise of Gary Dauberman’s Annabelle Comes Home is very much tied into where it takes place on The Conjuring Universe timeline. Specifically, the story takes place on the night that Ed and Loraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) bring the titular doll back to their house so that it can be contained in their occult museum. With what we already know about the Warrens relationship with Annabelle, this pins it right before the main events of The Conjuring, hence its placement here in this feature.

Taking things a step further, it’s even easier to specifically place Annabelle Comes Home because it’s a story that doesn’t exactly stretch out for weeks/months on end. Instead, the action will be taking place over the course of a single night, as young Judy Warren (Mckenna Grace), her babysitter (Madison Iseman), and her babysitter’s friend (Katie Sarife) try and survive the terror that Annabelle unleashes while being surrounded by the Warrens’ huge collection of terrifying objects.

The Conjuring

Setting: 1971

Now we get to the film that started it all – and it’s a pretty easy one to explain timeline-wise. James Wan’s The Conjuring is a straight-forward horror flick when it comes to narrative, as while there are references to events in the past, as well as the aforementioned introduction of Annabelle, most of the movie takes place within the span of a few weeks in the year 1971.

As for its relationship with the rest of The Conjuring Universe, there aren’t many connections to mention that haven’t already been established – though it is worth recognizing that Ed and Loraine Warren aren’t exactly amateurs at the start of this story. As a result, it’s entirely possible that future chapters of this franchise could be set both before and after the events in this movie – it all just depends on the stories that the filmmakers are interested in telling.

The Curse Of La Llorona

Setting: 1973

Michael Chaves’ The Curse Of La Llorona is not as tied into the rest of the franchise, but it does have a specific tie to Annabelle via the involvement of Father Perez (Tony Amendola), and the movie features a title card in the first act that confirms that the events take place in the year 1973.

Unlike The Nun or Annabelle movies, The Curse Of La Llorona is not a spin-off from any specific title, and with the exception of the presence of Father Perez is doesn’t actually have any other Easter eggs. If you’re watching these films chronologically, you can really watch this one any time after Annabelle and not get confused by how it fits into the grand scheme of things, but it's always more fun to go perfectly in order.

The Conjuring 2

Setting: 1977

You may not totally sense it from the development of the characters between movies, but there is a full six years between the events of James Wan’s The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2. The film opens in 1976,– specifically with the paranormal investigating duo looking into the notorious events in Amityville, New York. But the majority of the narrative takes them to 1977 England where they look into the case of the Enfield Poltergeist.

Much like its direct predecessor, elements of The Conjuring 2 have been expanded through spin-offs, most notably The Nun, and it makes for an interesting viewing experience knowing the background material provided by the other titles. So if you’re planning on doing a chronological run through The Conjuring Universe the next time you decide to revisit the franchise, you may find that certain details come across a bit differently by the time that you get to the main series' first sequel.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

Setting: 1981

Because of the inspiration taken from the lives of Ed and Loraine Warren, it may be a minute before we get to see a contemporary movie set in The Conjuring Universe, so right now the last title on the timeline is Michael Chaves' The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. The movie is the first in the franchise to broach the 1980s, which was a time when the Warrens became famous and were brought in for input by the police on criminal cases. That's reflected in this sequel, which changes things up from the haunted house subgenre and is more driven by an investigation.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is based on the real case of Arne Johnson, who was the first person in the history of the United States' criminal system to enter a plea of innocent due to demonic possession. The movie begins with an exorcism performed by the Warrens that goes horribly wrong, as a demon makes its way from a child into Johnson – and in the aftermath of the incident, he winds up murdering his landlord. In order to try and prove the accused's innocence, the paranormal investigators search for the origins of the whole mess.

This covers everything that we’ve seen from The Conjuring Universe so far, but there is still a bright future ahead for the demon-filled series, with announced projects like The Conjuring: Last Rites and The Crooked Man. You can be sure that we here on CinemaBlend will be following them all very closely, so be sure to stay tuned for all the latest details.

James Wan has an impressive history when it comes to launching and contributing to franchises, but he also notably doesn’t stick around in the director’s chair for very long with them. Going back to the start of his career, he’s brought us Saw, Insidious, and chapters of both Fast & Furious and the DC Extended Universe, but of all the direct follow-ups to those movies (a total of 11), he’s only directed two.

This is a trend that most recently continued with the developing Conjuring 3, with Michael Chaves (The Curse Of La Llorona) set to replace Wan after he directed the first two chapters in the series. This was seen as disappointing, if not unsurprising news, but now a bit of salt is being put in the wound, as producer Peter Safran has gone on the record saying that he believes the filmmaker’s time helming Conjuring Universe titles in general is probably at an end:

The subject of James Wan’s future with the Conjuring Universe was one that surfaced when I joined a small group of journalists to visit the set of the in-production Annabelle Comes Home on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California late last year. After having toured the Warren home and interviewed some of the lead actresses, we had the chance to sit down with Peter Safran and get his thoughts and opinions about the Annabelle trilogy-capper, and it was at the end of the conversation that the Wan question came up.

Peter Safran and James Wan have a built a solid working relationship, having made six films together in the last six years, so when the former expresses a particular read about the latter, it’s probably based on strong intuition. Furthermore, he definitely has a great beat on what the future holds for The Conjuring Universe, as he has produced every title released as part of the franchise so far.

On beyond the fact that James Wan seems to have a certain “rarely look back” perspective, Peter Safran brings up some really great points about The Conjuring 2. That movie is a beautiful and seriously scary piece of work, and one could definitely see why Wan may not feel compelled to return to the universe as a director going forward, instead pursuing other creative endeavors (like, perhaps, the developing Aquaman 2… which hasn’t yet nailed Wan down to direct just yet).

Of course, many in this situation would point out that it’s typically never smart to ever say “never” in this industry, as circumstances change all the time in Hollywood, and tomorrow James Wan could be struck with an idea he feels he must personally execute. Peter Safran most definitely left this possibility on the board with his answer, making particular note of Wan’s close relationship with the horror genre over the last 15 years. Said the producer,

Even if he’s not directing, James Wan’s relationship with The Conjuring Universe is as strong as ever, as he has produced every sequel and spin-off that has been made thus far, including the upcoming Annabelle Comes Home. We’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds.

On the subject of the third Annabelle film, it will be arriving in a theater near you very soon, as it is set up to be a nice summer scare-fest with its June 28th release date. Written and directed by Gary Dauberman (who makes his directorial debut after scripting all of the Annabelles and The Nun), the story is set over the course of one night as Judy Warren (McKenna Grace) and her babysitter (Madison Iseman) are tormented by the movie’s titular doll. Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, and Katie Sarife co-star.

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to stories from my Annabelle Comes Home set visit, so be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend over the next few days for more!

Annabelle 3 is called Annabelle Comes Home, and the official trailer brings Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) back into the mix. The trailer is also a 2 minute, 24 second warning not to make friends.

Friends will go into the room in your home that you told them not to go in. They'll touch things they shouldn't touch. They'll free a creepy doll named Annabelle. And they'll let that doll become a beacon for other spirits. Those creepy spirit friends will crash at your house and torture you with jumpscares. Then your parents will have to jump in and save the day -- again. Behold the trailer:

Mckenna Grace! She is everywhere. Maybe that should be the next Conjuring movie -- The Warrens realizing that Mckenna Grace has been cloned and that's why she's in every movie and TV show these days.

Mckenna Grace plays 10-year-old Judy Warren in Annabelle Comes Home, the seventh movie in The Conjuring Universe. It's a sequel to the 2014 movie Annabelle, which was a spinoff from The Conjuring. This movie also follows the prequel Annabelle: Creation.

James Wan, who directed the first two Conjuring movies, produced Annabelle Comes Home. Because the Warrens are in this film and the doll returns to their home, Wan said the movie feels like a new Conjuring film.

Here's the synopsis from New Line Cinema:

In addition to McKenna Grace (Captain Marvel) as Judy -- who appears to have inherited her mother's gifts; Madison Iseman (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) stars as Judy's babysitter, Mary Ellen; and Katie Sarife (Supernatural) plays Judy's troubled friend Daniela. This appears to be Daniela's fault, since she touched everything in the artifact room and set this all in motion. Then again, you could also blame the Warrens for keeping all that dangerous supernatural stuff in their own home.

Gary Dauberman -- who wrote the previous Annabelle films, IT, and The Nun -- made his directorial debut with this movie.

The Conjuring Universe is pushing movies out as fast as the DCEU and MCU these days. Before we see Annabelle Comes Home this June, we have the sixth film in the Conjuring Universe -- The Curse of La Llorona. That one is only tangentially connected to the world, but it does have an Annabelle link.

After Annabelle 3, we have The Conjuring 3 coming out in September 2020. That is being directed by Michael Chaves, who also directed The Curse of La Llorona. Aquaman director James Wan is now too busy to direct Conjuring movies, but he's still a producer in this world. After Conjuring 3 comes out, we should get more updates on The Crooked Man, which should be next.

Annabelle Comes Home will open in theaters (and IMAX) on June 28, 2019, as one of the many films to look forward to in 2019.

Director James Wan has been in the business for many years, but he's currently enjoying arguably his biggest success to date. Wan's DC debut Aquaman has helped Warner Bros.' shared universe bounce back, and the blockbuster was a critical and financial success. What's more, a sequel and spinoff are already in development. But Wan's roots are ultimately in the horror world, and he'll step back into the genre in a big way with Annabelle Comes Home, the upcoming threequel that he's producing.

James Wan introduced Annabelle to audiences when the creepy roll first popped up in The Conjuring, as the Warrens recounted some of their paranormal cases. She made enough of an impact that a spinoff movie was produced, aptly named Annabelle. It's sequel Annabelle: Creation improved on the franchise, and the upcoming threequel will include Vera Farmiga and Patrick Stewart's return to their Conjuring characters. Wan just revealed the first glimpse at Annabelle Comes Home, check it out below.

Annabelle is back, and this time she's got some friends with her. Annabelle Comes Home will bring us back to the Warren's house, especially their terrifying room of haunted artifacts. And this poster teases that the haunted doll has some tricks up her little sleeve.

Annabelle Comes Home will focus largely on the Warren's daughter Judy, who we've seen a few times throughout the Conjuring franchise. This time she'll be played by young actress Mckenna Grace, who audiences will recognize from I, Tonya, and Gifted. Demonologists The Warrens will procure Annabelle after rescuing the doll's latest victims, and bring her back to their home. The couple has an entire room of haunted objects, but it looks like Annabelle will have a power the weren't prepared for. Instead, they may have given her a group of demonic allies.

This new poster and Annabelle Comes Home's concept tease a very exciting threequel, forming a trilogy of horror movies in the process. The Warrens have been kept largely separate from the spinoffs, so it's exciting to see the deeper connection to the original franchise. James Wan is onboard as a producer, and his involvement should give cynics reason to relax. Especially as he continues basking in the sun of Aquaman's success.

The Annabelle franchise has already had an interesting life in theaters. The original film was the very first spinoff to come from The Conjuring Universe, something which will become more popular in the coming years. Annabelle was poorly received by critics, but it still managed to be a box office success. Annabelle: Creation was significantly better in quality, and made even more money at the box office. As such, the pressure is on for Annabelle Comes Home to deliver when it arrives this summer.

All will be revealed when Annabelle Comes Home arrives in theaters on June 28th, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Very mild spoilers ahead from The Curse of La Llorona.

The Curse of La Llorona hasn't been heavily promoted as a Conjuring movie, but it is quietly haunting The Conjuring Universe as the sixth entry in the series. The horror film marks the directorial debut of Michael Chaves, whose follow-up film is The Conjuring 3, which comes out in 2020.

The Curse of La Llorona recently screened at South by Southwest, confirming how the movie connects to the Conjuring universe. The movie is set in Los Angeles in 1973, and has the connective tissue of Father Perez (Tony Amendola), who returns to the story from Annabelle. In this film, Father Perez talks to Anna Garcia (Linda Cardellini) about his evil doll case, and the doll is flashed on screen to further drive home the connection (per Bloody Disgusting).

The 2014 Annabelle movie was also set in Southern California, with the story in 1967. The Conjuring, which came out in 2013, was set in 1971. The Conjuring 2 was set in 1976 and 1977. So The Curse of La Llorona appears to fit into the timeline between between the first two Conjuring movies, just a few years after Father Perez's experience in Annabelle.

Since The Curse of La Llorona just screened, critics and fans have been sharing their early thoughts online. CinemaBlend's own Sean O'Connell felt the film compared poorly to previous Conjuring movies, although he had fond words for Linda Cardellini:

Perri Nemiroff of Collider also had some measured praise, calling it a solid start for future Conjuring 3 director Michael Chaves:

Erik Davis of Fandango had a much simpler warning about the movie -- it may leave you afraid to visit your own attic:

The Curse of La Llorona was produced by James Wan, who directed the first two Conjuring films before passing the reins to Michael Chaves for the upcoming third movie. This is the sixth film in The Conjuring Universe after The Conjuring, Annabelle, The Conjuring 2, Annabelle: Creation, and The Nun. It precedes Annabelle 3, aka Annabelle Comes Home, which just announced its title and June 28, 2019 release date. The Conjuring 3 is reportedly scheduled for September 11, 2020. The Crooked Man should be following them at some point, but there's no set date right now.

The Curse of La Llorona opens in theaters on April 19, yep one week before Avengers: Endgame. Pray for it. The horror movie is just one of the many films releasing in theaters in 2019.

SPOILER WARNING: The following feature contains massive spoilers for The Nun. If you have not yet seen the film, and don't wish to know details about the way the movie ends, you may want to click away to another one of our wonderful articles.

The Conjuring Universe is rapidly expanding. The franchise didn't really start off with hugely ambitious plans, but ever since The Conjuring made over $300 million worldwide the aspirations have grown more epic. Not only did the first movie spawn a sequel that out-grossed its predecessor, but Annabelle has proven to be a massively successful spin-off series, two movies together making over $560 million globally. Now we have the latest entry in the form of director Corin Hardy's The Nun, and it ultimately proves to be a crucial piece in the growing continuity.

Specifically, it's the end of The Nun that ties it directly into the rest of the happenings in the Conjuring Universe, and it's those sequences in particular that we're here to dissect. What happens at the end? What does it mean? What do the filmmakers have to say about it? You'll find the answers to all those questions and more in this feature, so read on!

What Happens At The End Of The Film

After discovering the truth about Sister Victoria's suicide -- that she was actually sacrificing herself to avoid possession instead of just killing herself -- Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), Father Burke (Demian Bichir) and Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) formulate a plan to defeat The Nun a.k.a. Valak. They believe that if they can seal the broken rift from which the demon escaped it will be banished from our realm, and they acquire the tools that will help them complete their mission: the key to the catacombs, and an artifact that contains a vial of Jesus Christ's blood.

Of course, fighting a demon is no easy business -- and recognizing that the trio is stronger together Valak successfully manages to separate them. The group is attacked by all matters of unholy things Irene is temporarily possessed, though she is freed when Frenchie uses some of Christ's blood (an act that gets him knocked out for a good spell). Burke is once again haunted by images of the young boy who died during an exorcism, forcing him to separate from Irene, and Irene is thrown into the rift room, which is quickly filling with water.

Irene sees the artifact floating close to her, though it appears that it is broken. Valak attacks again, trying to drown her. At first it looks like the demon has succeeded, holding Irene's limp body, but the young nun then spits Christ's blood in its face, revealing that she had held it in her mouth. Valak disintegrates, and the portal closes, but Irene appears lifeless. Frenchie, now awake, rushes over to her, and performs CPR, successfully waking her up. Burke finds them, and Frenchie tells them his real name: Maurice Theriault. As they start to leave they affirm that the monastery is once again a holy place, but it's revealed that this is really nothing more than sentiment. Rather than being banished, Valak has managed to successfully possess Frenchie, as evidenced by a scar on his neck that looks like an inverted cross.

Fast-forwarding to 20 years later, Carolyn Perron (Lili Taylor) sits in an auditorium watching a presentation by Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) -- a clip from the first Conjuring. In the slideshow, the couple discusses a particularly disturbing exorcism that they were a part of, one that involved a French-Canadian farmer... named Maurice Theriault.

This may seem like a simple dovetail that links The Nun to The Conjuring, but those intimately familiar with the Conjuring Universe should know that the connection to previous titles goes much deeper than that. And if you're not entirely sure how it all works, we recommend clicking to the next page.

Who Was Frenchie?

Though introduced after both Father Burke and Sister Irene, Frenchie is one of the key protagonists in The Nun, right up until he becomes possessed by the antagonist. It's good that he had his chance to be the hero, though, because while we don't really get to see any of the negative effects of his particular demonic condition in the main narrative, he definitely doesn't have a bright future. That's obviously kind of sad, but what's significant is that he winds up having a major impact on the lives of Ed and Lorraine Warren.

In The Conjuring, Ed describes the life of Maurice "Frenchie" Theriault (who was actually a real person at the center of a known possession story). It's said he had nothing more than a third grade education, but spoke perfect Latin when the Warrens met him, sometimes backwards, and as a child had been molested and tortured by his father. During his exorcism he bled from the eyes, and an inverted cross appeared on his side, which is all pretty horrific, but most importantly he "showed" Lorraine something that shook her to her core, taking what Ed describes as "a real big piece" of her.

Exactly what Maurice psychically projected was a mystery that remained unanswered by the end of The Conjuring, but it then become a vital part of The Conjuring 2. Not only was the sequel the first time that audiences were specifically introduced to Valak, who was ultimately revealed to be the big bad of the movie, but we even got to see what it was that so horrified the clairvoyant paranormal investigator: the death of her husband, impaled on a lightning-struck tree after falling out of a window. It's thankfully a fate that the Warrens narrowly avoid, but it still must be recognized that Maurice "Frenchie" Theriault left one hell of an impression -- an impression that we got an origin story for in the form of The Nun.

Interestingly, it's the second time we've seen this kind of ending from The Conjuring Universe, as Annabelle: Creation -- a prequel to its predecessor -- also made some finishing maneuvers that led to a perfect match-up. It seems to be a cool, clever direction for the franchise to take as it continues to expand and produce more spin-offs, and it's a conclusion strategy that I had the chance to talk about with The Nun screenwriter Gary Dauberman, producer Peter Safran, and director Corin Hardy...

How The Dovetail Came Together

The Nun is a film that came together very quickly, as it only officially put together its filmmaking team in February 2017, and had them going into production three months later. That's not a lot of time for big franchise discussions to be had, but according to Gary Dauberman, Peter Safran, and Corin Hardy, the dovetail was part of the equation from the very beginning.

Dauberman has some good experience in the Conjuring Universe, having written both Annabelle and Annabelle: Creation before The Nun, and during a recent interview he explained how the Frenchie narrative became a part of the new movie -- noting special enthusiasm from The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 director James Wan. Said the screenwriter,

Looking at things from the big picture perspective, that "elegant way" was particularly important for Peter Safran, who has produced all of The Conjuring Universe films to date, and has been a key figure in overseeing the larger continuity. Fans certainly recognize that The Nun is a spin-off series featuring the main villain from The Conjuring 2, but making narrative maneuvers like those that unfold at the end of the movie drives home the continuity and serves as important connective tissue (a la Nick Fury showing up at the end of Iron Man). Safran explained it as such:

Continuing, Peter Safran noted that not only is the inclusion of Frenchie in The Nun helpful in terms of firming up continuity, but it's also just fun and rewarding for fans. Those who have been especially enjoying The Conjuring Universe movies to this point will all get a nice extra little jolt and chance to smirk thanks to the end of the film, all kicking off with the character revealing his real name:

Of course, this is also one of the great and unique facets of cinematic universe franchises. Creating these kinds of bridges between projects isn't something that's on the table for straight series, and it's something that demands being taken advantage of. The folks behind The Conjuring Universe seem to clearly understand this, and as a result have given us, along with Annabelle: Creation, two great dovetail finishes.

As for Corin Hardy, he also noted that working Maurice Theriault into The Nun was always a part of the project's development - including the subterfuge to hide his true identity with his nickname. Adding to that, though, he also expressed how happy he was to show a happier time in Maurice's life than what was shown in The Conjuring -- showcasing that he was more than just a simple agrarian with a troubled childhood. Said the director,

For your viewing pleasure, you can watch Corin Hardy discuss the ending of The Nun by clicking play on the video below.

Given the bow that's tied at the end of The Nun, its potential as its own spin-off series is unclear at this stage -- but what's definitely not done is the Conjuring Universe. Not only is there a Conjuring 3 and an Annabelle 3 in the works, but there is also another planned spin-off being planned for one of The Conjuring 2's other terrifying visages: The Crooked Man. You'll be able to find updates on all of those projects and more in the coming weeks, months, and years, so be sure to be on the lookout for all those details here on CinemaBlend.

Over the last few years, The Conjuring franchise has gradually evolved into one of Hollywood's strangest entities. It's a cohesive cinematic universe in the vein of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the DC Extended Universe, but it does so with a decidedly scarier slant. That has worked for many audiences so far, but an Honest Trailer has just debuted to skewer the entire franchise's use of horror tropes. Check it out, below!

It does not matter if you are a fan of The Conjuring or not; that video kind of nails it. From the exposition dumps to the emphasis on following proper act structure (which seems very prominent in the first movie), The Conjuring series is not without its own fair share of flaws. Then, of course, the video also brings up the fact that the films are seemingly based on true stories, while also acknowledging the fact that Warner Bros settled a lawsuit when it could not actually prove that ghosts were real.

Perhaps one of the most interesting observations raised by this video is the sheer number of similarities shared between The Conjuring and Insidious. Both are brainchildren of James Wan, and both prominently feature Patrick Wilson in starring roles. Moreover, both are demonic tales, with haunted houses playing key roles in both franchises.

Of course, even with the issues raised by this particular Honest Trailer, it's worth noting that The Conjuring franchise is doing a number of things right in the creation of a cohesive world. For starters, there is a clear timeline on display, with each adventure taking place in a unique time and place on said timeline (for those of you who don't know, The Nun is chronologically first).

Another element that keeps The Conjuring universe interesting (though it's still lampooned in the video) is the fact that the archives of Ed and Lorraine Warren are so ripe for seemingly unlimited adaptations. As of right now, only the Annabelle doll has been spun off, but with The Nun right around the corner and an adaptation of The Crooked Man (who appeared in The Conjuring 2) on the way, it's obvious that there's a lot of room to keep diving into the case files and the trinkets in the Warren household to bring new tales to life.

Regardless of how you feel about The Conjuring and its burgeoning cinematic universe, you can catch the latest installment in the series this weekend when The Nun premieres on September 6. If you are looking for more information about all of the films that are going to debut this year, then make sure to head over to CinemaBlend's 2018 movie premiere guide to read up on all of them!

While Universal's Dark Universe was pretty much dead on arrival, another horror-based cinematic universe has sprouted up organically from James Wan's 2013 film The Conjuring. Already four films deep, The Conjuring Universe will soon add another chapter with the release of The Nun early next month. Unlike, say, the MCU, where everything is fairly linear and the connections are very clear, The Conjuring Universe is a bit more mysterious. So in advance of The Nun hitting theaters, a new video has been released that explains how this film connects to the rest of The Conjuring Universe and where it fits within it. Check it out:

It is kind of cool that there is a firm, concrete timeline for this franchise, making it very apparent that this is indeed a cinematic universe and The Nun has a special place within it. The character of the nun was first introduced in The Conjuring 2, which took place in 1977. In that film, The Nun, who was the demon called Valak, haunted Lorraine Warren. Here we see that, like most demons, the demonic nun has been at this for a while. The Nun will take us back in time to reveal the origins of that evil. Within The Conjuring Universe, The Nun will be the very first film in the timeline, taking place in 1952, although Annabelle: Creation does have some flashback scenes that take place before it. The Nun represents the start of what the Warrens will battle decades later in The Conjuring 2.

Also in this video, The Nun director Corin Hardy and producer Peter Safran tease that although this film takes place within The Conjuring Universe, it will offer up something different than what audiences have seen before. Instead of the Warrens we will have much different protagonists this time around with Demián Bichir's priest and Tessa Farmiga's novitiate sent from the Vatican to investigate a Romanian abbey after a nun kills herself. The different timeline and setting should give this movie a different feel and the further back in time you go the less technology and knowledge there is, and the scarier things can become. Staying fresh and unpredictable is great for scares, and that seems to be what The Nun is going for.

In this explainer video, you also hear James Wan talking about when audiences take to a character, and want to know more about them. That opens up opportunities for another series to explore, and that is the thinking that gave rise to this cinematic universe. At the end of The Conjuring 2, Ed Warren brought back a zoetrope of "The Crooked Man" and now a Crooked Man spinoff within The Conjuring Universe is in development, proving that the Warrens really need to stop taking souvenirs. For those who prefer the mainline films in this franchise, The Conjuring 3 is also in the works (although the busy James Wan is not expected to direct), and there is also Annabelle 3 (which will have screenwriter Gary Dauberman making his directorial debut).

The Nun hits theaters on September 7th. Check out our release schedule for all the biggest movies still to come this year.

While the horror genre is currently going through a notable renaissance, one franchise that has seriously benefited is the Conjuring Cinematic Universe. The movies have seriously blossomed since the first Conjuring back in 2013, and with spin-offs like Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation, and the upcoming The Nun, it's only getting bigger and bigger. Now it's been confirmed that the growth is set to continue in a big way, as James Wan has confirmed that an Annabelle 3 is now in the works, with writer Gary Dauberman set to make the movie as his directorial debut.

Warner Bros. held a special horror-themed event as part of the first night of San Diego Comic-Con this evening, and one of the big reveals was that Annabelle 3 is now currently coming together -- though James Wan will only serve as a producer, as he has for all of the Conjuring spin-offs to date. Unlike the first two movies, which were both set years before the titular doll wound up in the hands of Ed and Lorraine Warren, the new movie will apparently feature the famed paranormal investigators. Specifically, the story will feature Annabelle in their possession not only torturing their 10-year-old daughter, Judy, but also having an influence on the other cursed objects owned by the Warrens. In fact, she will apparently be able to bring the other evil items to life Night At The Museum-style.

This news will likely not come as a huge surprise to those who have been tracking the success of the Conjuring movies - especially the Annabelle spin-offs. Despite getting not-so-great reviews, the first movie about the cursed doll back in 2014 was an unquestionable hit, ultimately making $257 million worldwide. Even more amazing, the sequel, Annabelle: Creation wound up making even more money when it came out last fall, pulling in over $306 million around the globe. It was basically inevitable that Warner Bros. would eventually greenlight an Annabelle 3, though these details certainly paint a more exciting picture than otherwise would have been anticipated.

At this point, we now just have a lot of questions that don't have official answers. One might guess that this means that Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, the stars of both The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, will be playing key roles in Annabelle 3, but it's unknown at this stage if that is set in stone. This is particularly notable because a Conjuring 3 is currently in the works, and is expected to maintain its two leads. This news certainly suggests that the development of Annabelle 3 will make the interconnective threads within the franchise that much stronger, which could lead to some interesting developments in the future of this series.

Annabelle 3 actually already has a release date, with the film set to come out on July 3, 2019. This presumably means that production will be starting up soon, meaning that we should shortly be hearing some more major announcements. Stay tuned for those on CinemaBlend, along with more of our awesome coverage from San Diego Comic-Con!

The horror genre is in a bit of a renaissance right now, with new and exciting works being released to critical acclaim and box office success. While Blumhouse has its hands full bringing the Halloween franchise back, Warner Bros. has made an entire cinematic universe out of The Conjuring franchise. The monsters from the main films are being given spinoffs, with the next installment coming with The Nun. The horrifying villain first popped up in The Conjuring 2, and the upcoming movie will see Taissa Farmiga's Sister Irene investing the creature's origins. A first trailer just dropped, and it's as horrifying as you'd hope.

I'm so ready to get back into James Wan's twisted world, and the terrifying creatures that inhabit it. The Nun looks like a great addition to The Conjuring Universe, with the villain herself being one of the scariest creations to come out of it.

The trailer opens with The Nun as we first saw her in Conjuring 2: a painting. An already ghastly image in the light, things suddenly go dark, and you see The Nun's glowing eyes. It's no wonder that she was given her own standalone movie. The character proper hasn't even been shown, and the opening moments of the trailer are enough to send chills down horror fans' spines.

Much like The Conjuring franchise proper, it seems like The Nun is having its protagonist tell the terrifying story backward, meaning Sister Irene will likely survive the film's main narrative. The Conjuring's Vera Farmiga (Taissa's real life sister) used a similar framing device through the first two films, recounting some of Ed and Lorraine's scariest cases. Sister Irene apparently has some sort of sensitivity to the spirit world, and is sent to Romania after having visions of The Nun.

It looks like The Nun will combine both supernatural horror with mystery, as Sister Irene investigates the mysterious suicide of a nun. The Conjuring franchise often combines literal demons with real life struggles, so it should be fun to see how it all unravels. One thing is clear: James Wan's signature style will be there, complete with plenty of jump scares and startling imagery.

While James Wan isn't directing The Nun, it seems he did have a fair amount of influence over the upcoming spinoff. He's been credited as helping to craft the story, as well as being a producer. The Nun was directed by relative newcomer Corin Hardy, who made his debut directing The Hallow. Fans of horror are no doubt excited to see Taissa Farmiga playing the film's lead, after her work on Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story and The Final Girls.

The Nun will arrive in theaters on September 7, 2018 to start the Halloween season. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

It's no secret that The Conjuring franchise has turned into one of the most intriguing horror franchises in existence. The series has spun off in broad range of different directions, with Annabelle and Annabelle: Creation anchoring the series away from its roots with Ed and Lorraine Warren. There are currently several other Conjuring spinoffs in development, including The Crooked Man and The Nun, but it looks like the Annabelle franchise is also set to return with screenwriter Gary Dauberman stepping behind the camera for Annabelle 3.

The Annabelle franchise has yet to lock down one specific filmmaker to guide its creative vision. John Leonetti directed the first movie and Lights Out director David F. Sandberg stepped in for Annabelle: Creation. Now, per a report from THR, it looks like Conjuring franchise screenwriter Gary Dauberman is officially going to step in for the third Annabelle film, which is set to premiere on the big screen next summer.

As far as credits go, there's a lot to be excited about Gary Dauberman's background and what he brings to the table as a horror writer. In addition to his work in the Annabelle franchise, he is also credited on IT, as well as The Nun and IT: Chapter 2. In layperson's terms: the guy knows his way around a scary movie.

For Gary Dauberman to step in and get behind the camera for an Annabelle movie actually makes quite a bit of sense. He's fundamentally linked to the sub-franchise as its writer, so he obviously has a clear connection to the material and the direction that he wants to take it. In a way, it actually feels somewhat similar to the X-Men franchise's recent decision to let Simon Kinberg get behind the camera for X-Men: Dark Phoenix, as Kinberg has spent years cutting his teeth as a writer and producer in the mutant world.

Ultimately we still don't know what a third Annabelle movie could even look like. Annabelle: Creation filled in the gaps of the franchise mythology, leaving little room to explore how the demonic presence made its way from the Mullins home to the Warrens in The Conjuring. That said, the on-screen appearances of Annabelle seem to get better and better with each passing film, so we're excited to see what Dauberman cooks up.

CinemaBlend will bring you more information related to the third Annabelle movie as more details related to the project are made available to us. Until then, make sure to mark the film's July 3, 2019 release date down on your moviegoing calendars, and check out our 2018 movie premiere guide to stay abreast of all of the biggest and best 2018 movie releases! As for the other projects in The Conjuring's ever-expanding universe, make sure to catch The Nun when it debuts later this year on September 7.

There are plenty of Hollywood lawsuits that never actually make it to court, with judges throwing them out before they can get that far - but in this most recent instance, the folks at Warner Bros. aren't that lucky. A few months ago the studio was sued for a whopping $900 million due to their creation of the Conjuring franchise, and a recent decision has deemed the case worthy of going to trial.

Gerald Brittle is the author of a book about paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren called The Demonologists, and he is claiming that Warner Bros. did not have permission to make movies about them because he has held on to the rights since 1978. The studio attempted to get the case dismissed, however, U.S. District Judge John Gibney ruled that the lawsuit needs to go to trial in order for the truth to be properly sussed out.

It was back in late March that Gerald Brittle last filed a legal effort against the studio, continuing a claim that he holds exclusive rights to produce any works derivative of the lives of the Warrens. According to the original story, Lorraine Warren was in violation of their agreement when she allowed WB access to the case files for film adaptation.

Clearly this is bad news for Warner Bros. - and it comes at a really poor time given that the company has recently been celebrating the tremendous success of the Conjuring franchise. Earlier this month it was reported that the movies all together have now made more than a billion dollars at the global box office. The whole thing kicked off with James Wan's The Conjuring back in 2013, but that first blockbuster has since been followed by The Conjuring 2, Annabelle, and Annabelle: Creation (which is currently in theaters). There are also multiple upcoming projects in various stages of development, including The Nun (which is in post-production), and both The Crooked Man and The Conjuring 3 (which are in pre-production).

It's hard to say what would happen to these Conjuring-related projects if the studio were to lose the case, as they could either be totally stopped, or Gerald Brittle may instead make some kind of deal for the profits. We'll obviously know more when arguments are heard and a verdict is rendered.

Unfortunately, the courts don't move as fast as they do in the movies, so those immensely curious about how things will shake out here are going to have to learn some patience. According to Deadline, Judge Gibney has ruled that the case will be going to court and put before a jury on April 16, 2018 in Virginia. Eight months may seem like a long time from now, but the time will probably go by in a flash, and we'll be able to provide more updates about this story.

There really is nothing like The Conjuring universe in Hollywood these days. After two stellar horror films and two innovative spinoffs (the latest of which recently hit theaters), James Wan's spooky franchise has handily turned into one of the best film series in recent memory. With scares, style, and a hell of a lot of filmmaking skill on full display in each subsequent entry, we couldn't be more excited for what this universe will bring us next.

On that note (and on the heels of Annabelle: Creation's critical and financial success), we think now is the perfect time to look forward into the future. We have compiled a list of every confirmed Conjuring movie currently in development, and we will keep this handy guide updated as new information becomes available to us. Now, let's dive in and see what's next in the world of ghosts, spirits, and demons.

The Curse Of La Llorona

Originally, it looked like The Curse of La Llorona was going to be a standalone film that was adjacent to The Conjuring universe. Director Michael Chaves’ feature film debut eventually became announced as a proper part of the universe, as the integration of Father Perez from Annabelle directly connects this story as taking place in that shared framework. Set in the 1970’s, The Curse of La Llorona tells the story of the fabled ghost who steals the souls of lost children, and the evil she brings to the home of a social worker, played by Linda Cardellini.

Release Date: April 19, 2019

Annabelle Comes Home

Annabelle: Creation’s success obviously dictated a third entry based on the devil doll’s life and times as a given. However, it wasn’t predicted that the film that became Annabelle Comes Home would turn into a full blown adventure with the Warren family. Showing the moment that Ed and Lorraine acquired the doll that started it all, Annabelle Comes Home also threatens to unleash a ton of other spirits trapped in the Warren’s room of special relics. Returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren are Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, respectively; with series writer Gary Dauberman making his directorial debut with the film.

Release Date: June 28, 2019

The Conjuring 3

If you were worried that The Conjuring 3 wasn’t going to be a concern with Annabelle Comes Home returning the Warren family to the fold, don’t be. The threequel in the core franchise is still a going concern, with The Curse of La Llorona’s Michael Chaves taking the director’s chair for the first film without James Wan behind the camera. The exact plot isn’t locked in yet, with rumors of werewolves and a legal thriller aspect both being present; but what we do know is Vera Farmiga is definitely in it, and she says it’s absolutely massive in its scope.

Release Date: September 11, 2020

The Crooked Man

Following the release of The Nun, James Wan's Conjuring universe will once again go for another spinoff from a monster introduced during the events of The Conjuring 2. However, this time we will see a movie centering on The Crooked Man folktale. We do not know nearly as much about The Crooked Man as we do about The Nun, but Wan has come out and confessed that it would feel considerably different from other installments in The Conjuring universe by focusing far more on the titular entity's "whimsical" fairy tale origins. The most current update we have on The Crooked Man is that the script is still being finessed, with the promise to be a very different entry in the series still ringing true.

Release Date: TBA

The Nun 2

It truly feels like there’s no end to the records that The Conjuring universe is set to break. Last September’s release of The Nun saw not only the biggest opening for Conjuring film, but also the highest worldwide grosses for any film in the entire series. As Valak already has a brand of recognition similar to that of Annabelle, The Nun 2 was a pretty easy concept to announce as an upcoming title to add to the fray. While it’s in the earliest stages of inception, franchise producer Peter Safran promises a rather exciting story is in the works, and it’ll probably be the next spin-off written in the series.

Release Date: TBA

I haven't made my personal affection for Annabelle: Creation a secret since getting the chance to see the film at an early press screening. My own four-star review of the movie speaks for itself and pretty much lays out the sheer amount of filmmaking prowess on display in David F. Sandberg's Conjuring universe prequel. But aside from the obvious skill in every frame of the film, Annabelle: Creation is also worth your time because it's one of the most participatory horror outings in recent memory. Of all the films to debut in theaters this summer, the latest installment in The Conjuring universe is arguably the one that you definitely need to see in a crowded theater.

We've all been there before. We have all sat in a movie theater during a horror movie and looked around as a nail-biter of a scene builds to a crescendo. People cover their eyes; they hold their breath, and they turn to the people next to them to seek some degree of comfort in the face of a film that has gotten under their skin. That's a sensation that Annabelle: Creation delivers in every single one of its set pieces.

Whether it's a demonic figure standing up from under a sheet to walk towards our unknowing protagonist, or a young girl shaking with fear because someone (or something) big just sprinted up the stairs of her house and jumped into the lower bunk of her bed, Annabelle: Creation knows how to get an audience riled up. It imbues the film with a type of energy that no other genre can deliver, and it requires a full theater setting to really get the full force of David F. Sandberg's work on the project.

Think about it; there's a long history of horror movies inducing this type of response among audiences. Virtually every installment in The Conjuring universe has managed to deliver it, and we saw it earlier this year when Jordan Peele's Get Out debuted in theaters. It's refreshing because quite a few recent horror romps (such as It Comes at Night) have opted to take far more nihilistic approaches to their subject matter. Annabelle: Creation is not a reflective film; it's a roller coaster in which the only real objective is survival. It's a good, old-fashioned scary movie in the vein of the Wes Craven or John Carpenter tradition, and that's the sort of spectacle that you're not going to want to miss out on.

Beyond all of that, it's worth mentioning that you shouldn't let the (somewhat lackluster) legacy of the first film taint your opinion of the franchise. Annabelle: Creation is an improvement over 2014's Annabelle in almost every way, and it's a terrifying fresh start for this corner of The Conjuring universe. If you find yourself hesitant to check this movie out because the first film let you down three years ago, then put those worries to rest right now. Annabelle: Creation not only stands on its own but it also retroactively enhances the mythology of the titular doll in pretty much every conceivable way.

The fact that many people don't even bother to go to the movies anymore is not lost on us. We have reported extensively on the phenomenon, and the reasons that people don't go to the movies anymore range wildly -- from rising ticket prices to the availability of alternative content on home entertainment platforms. That said, if you have found yourself growing cynical of the typical movie theater experience, then there's an excellent chance that Annabelle: Creation will restore your faith in the old model -- especially if you're already fond of horror movies.

Annabelle: Creation is now in theaters. Do yourself a serious favor and check it out on the big screen to get the full experience of David F. Sandberg's delightfully fun horror romp. However, there are still plenty more great films set to debut this year (such as Andres Muschietti's upcoming IT adaptation) so make sure to take a look at our movie premiere guide to keep yourself in the loop on all of 2017's most highly anticipated silver screen debuts!

The term "cinematic universe" has become somewhat ubiquitous in recent years, but few franchises have truly mastered it yet. Sure, superhero films have it down to a science at this point, but there's one other major film series that has thrived as a cohesive unit when other franchises of a similar ilk have faltered: The Conjuring. The brainchild of horror master James Wan, the series started out as little more than an unexpected horror hit in 2013. However, it has since spawned an ever-expanding world of ghouls and supernatural terror, which will continue with the release of Annabelle: Creation on August 11 and continue with solo films for The Nun, as well as The Crooked Man.

With the theatrical release of Annabelle: Creation set for this weekend, and with the fourth entry in The Conjuring universe already garnering some great critical buzz, we think now is the right time to dive in and examine why this franchise is actually one of Hollywood's most promising cinematic landscapes. Check out our reasons, and give us your thoughts on this spooky franchise in the comments section below!

Low Budgets Allow Them To Take Risks

Conventional wisdom dictates that a movie with a higher budget will usually take a more traditional (and less risky) approach to its narrative. The reason for this is simple: a studio doesn't want to risk a nine-figure budget on a film that might not earn its money back. In the case of The Conjuring (and most horror movies, for that matter), the studio hasn't encountered that issue. Filmmakers can make these movies on shoestring budgets, which means each entry in the ever-expanding Conjuring universe can tinker with the genre, setting, visual style and level of graphic intensity. Even the original Annabelle (the worst reviewed entry in the franchise) made its meager $6.5 million budget back almost 40 times over. Horror lends itself to a smaller budget, and that creates an environment where risk and innovation are rewarded rather than punished.

They Pick The Right Creative Talent

When it comes to a cinematic universe, success can hinge upon the person at the top who guides the creative vision. For Marvel, that person is Kevin Feige. For DC, that person is Geoff Johns. For The Conjuring films, that person is James Wan. Enlisting Wan to kick this universe off with 2013's The Conjuring was nothing short of genius, and the horror icon (responsible for similarly scary hits like Insidious and Saw) has helped maintain an excellent sense of tonal cohesion and quality control on most of these films. Even when James Wan hasn't been able to step behind the camera to personally direct them, the studio has still managed to find talented artists to step in with a style that feels distinct from Wan, but similarly delivers the scares -- such as David F. Sandberg, the man behind Annabelle: Creation.

The Core Concept Is Broad Enough To Sustain A Full Universe

Now that superhero films have cracked the cinematic universe code, it seems that every studio wants to get in on the action. However, not every franchise lends itself to this idea, and we have seen some seriously outlandish pitches in recent months, such as a James Bond universe and a John Wick universe. That's what makes a Conjuring cinematic universe so utterly refreshing; the franchise leans on an incredibly broad concept of supernatural horror, and each film can feel distinct from what that preceded it because they don't have a lot of narrative weight to carry forward from movie to movie. Half of the entries in The Conjuring universe haven't even featured The Warrens, and they still worked because the only necessary element that a good Conjuring film needs to have is an abundance of well-crafted scares.

The Continuity Enhances The Stories...

One of the most fundamental aspects of The Conjuring franchise that sets it apart from other horror movies (or horror movie franchises, for that matter) is the fact that it's a cohesive universe in which continuity is recognized between films. That's not something that we see very often from this spooky genre, and the knowledge of an overarching timeline anchored by the presence of Ed and Lorraine Warren enhances The Conjuring franchise and its spinoffs. The Annabelle doll and her burgeoning franchise is a perfect example of that idea in action. Watching any installment in The Conjuring universe that features Annabelle is instantly unnerving because every new movie deepens the mythology of the character. She has never said a word or even visibly moved on-screen, but the growing continuity of these films helps audiences understand where she comes from and the type of evil lurking in this world.

...But It Isn't Required To Appreciate Each Film

That said, these films avoid an issue faced by most other cinematic universes because continuity is not essential to enjoying every installment in the franchise. Unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the DCEU, The Conjuring universe doesn't appear to build towards a climactic event that requires an in-depth knowledge of every character and monster that has ever appeared. Instead, each installment in this series works as a standalone with a definitive beginning, middle and end. While maintaining a knowledge of the underlying Conjuring universe will almost certainly enhance the viewing experience, you can watch any of these films without seeing any of the others, and you will still be able to understand the story that a movie presents you with. That not only makes it easier on existing audiences, but it will also make the franchise far less intimidating to newcomers as new films enter The Conjuring mythos.

Horror Is A Less Competitive Genre Right Now

We often hear people in the film industry talk about the concept of "superhero fatigue" whenever comic book films come up, but few ever discuss the possibility that audiences are burning out on horror movies. That's because the world of horror is arguably far less competitive at the moment. Because The Conjuring films cost so little to produce, and because they tend to outperform other horror films critically, this series finds itself in a spot where there aren't many other franchises around to challenge its dominance. Beyond that, the genre is simply so malleable that it's hard to imagine these movies cannibalizing each other at the box office. Horror fans tend to be a relatively passionate bunch, which is why movies like Lights Out and The Conjuring 2 can debut less than a month apart from one another and still do good business.

Creepy dolls are a touchstone of the horror genre. Maybe it has something to do with the theme of lost innocence, or maybe it's just because they look terrifying, but there's something about ghoulish children's toys that frighten audiences to no end. As it turns out, even performing alongside an Annabelle doll can get pretty intense for an actor. I recently had the chance to ask Annabelle: Creation star Miranda Otto about the difficulties of delivering the film's exposition, and she explained that doing it next to the Annabelle doll only made things more challenging for her on-set. Otto explained:

It's really a testament to the design of the Annabelle doll and the skill of The Conjuring universe directors that she has become so scary. Unlike characters like Chucky from Child's Play or the clown from Poltergeist, Annabelle pretty much never moves or says a word. She only sits there and stares off into the distance, and the effect still works. Even for someone like Miranda Otto, the simple act of working alongside the doll ultimately became a bit too creepy, and she needed the doll turned away so she could finish her dialogue scenes. I can't say that I blame her.

Of course, Annabelle isn't the only Conjuring monster to have this effect on people. The franchise has thus far done a fantastic job of creating memorable villains with the potential to create entirely new solo film series. Annabelle was the first, but we will also soon see spinoff films for The Conjuring 2's Valak (a.k.a The Nun), as well as The Crooked Man.

Annabelle: Creation chronicles the birth of the titular doll and her first haunting of an unsuspecting family. After the death of their young daughter Annabelle in a tragic accident, Samuel (Anthony LaPaglia) and Esther Mullins (Otto) decide to channel mysterious forces to see their little girl again. However, things soon take a dark turn, as a supernatural entity soon enters the Mullins' home and begins haunting the young orphan girls that they have taken in. The film was directed by Lights Out helmer David F. Sandberg and is the latest entry in James Wan's ever-expanding Conjuring universe.

You can catch Miranda Otto in Annabelle: Creation when the film opens in theaters this weekend on August 11. Make sure to let us know what you think of the Annabelle franchise, and give us your thoughts on The Conjuring universe monsters in the comments below!

Creepy dolls have always held a special place in the hearts of horror fans. Whether it's the wisecracking Chucky from the Child's Play series or the clown doll from Poltergeist; scary movies and creepy kids' toys go hand in hand. However, horror fans have never seen anything quite like The Conjuring's Annabelle, and her franchise has just taken a significant leap forward by taking a step back in time. On that note, David F. Sandberg's Annabelle: Creation isn't just one of the best entries in the growing Conjuring universe; it's also one of the best horror films of the last few years and definitive proof that the Lights Out director is just getting started as a master of the genre.

Taking place a decade before the events of the original Annabelle (and long before she fell into the capable hands of Ed and Lorraine Warren), Annabelle: Creation chronicles the birth of the titular doll, as well as her first set of victims. When Samuel (Anthony LaPaglia) and Esther Mullens (Miranda Otto) lose their young daughter Annabelle in a freak accident, they turn their remote farmhouse into a home for orphaned girls in an attempt to fill the void. However, things soon take an incredibly dark turn at the Mullens house as a dark force begins to take a liking to best friends Janice (Talitha) and Linda (Lulu Wilson), and the girls find themselves in a desperate battle to save their souls.

The first thing that you will notice while watching Annabelle: Creation (aside from how much better it is than the original) is how much more conventional of a horror movie it is than the film that preceded it. Gone is the Los Angeles apartment setting and 1960s counterculture atmosphere, which has been replaced by a folksier 1950s Middle America aesthetic. Although it's somewhat more familiar than the original Annabelle within the grand scheme of the horror genre, it also helps create a much better sense of isolation from the outside world, as well as a constant feeling of dread.

While that may cause the film to lose a few originality points among horror fans, Annabelle: Creation more than makes up for it when we look at the sheer skill in execution -- none of which would be possible without the deft filmmaking sensibilities of David F. Sandberg. Seriously, this guy continues to prove that he's one of the genre's best up-and-coming directors. Using a few simple and practical techniques that he perfected with his work on last year's Lights Out, Sandberg keeps the film's plot moving at breakneck speed without ever sacrificing the pacing of a scene. Horror is a legitimately hard genre to pull off, and it's fascinating to watch Sandberg maximize Annabelle: Creation's scares with little more than an out of focus figure lurking in a background, or the sound of footsteps racing up the stairs in a darkened house. Make no mistake; there's blood in this film, but Annabelle: Creation's main appeal is that sustained tension that Conjuring films do so well.

The beauty of these scares comes from Sandberg's ability to use the Annabelle: Creation's setting in an economical fashion. Not unlike Fede Alvarez's Don't Breathe, Creation uses every square inch of its farmhouse setting to maximize the number of scares in a three-dimensional manner. It's not just a matter of what's lurking in a shadow behind you. In the world ruled by Annabelle, evil can strike from above, below, or right in front of you at any given time, and the film almost always finds a way to make every scare (even the predictable ones) work without feeling contrived.

It's also worth acknowledging that, within those terrifying moments, David F. Sandberg has once again proven that he's a master of working with child actors. Although the performances of the adults in Annabelle: Creation can sometimes leave a bit to be desired, the film is anchored by two powerhouse performances by Talitha Bateman (the sister of Lights Out's Gabriel Bateman) and Ouija: Origin of Evil's Lulu Wilson. As two best friends fighting to stay together in the face of unspeakable evil, these actresses exhibit fantastic chemistry, and they both do a phenomenal job of conveying fear, strength, and sadness in the film's most intense scenes. Getting strong performances out of kids is not a simple task for most filmmakers, but it's easy to see why Warner Bros. lined up Sandberg to direct the Shazam solo movie. He knows how to work with these youngsters and deliver results.

That said, not all of Annabelle: Creation's scares land in a way that feels earned. Like many entries in The Conjuring universe, Creation suffers from a third act problem in which the scale of the threat posed by the ominous force abruptly spirals out of control. At that point, the movie often goes more for terror thrills than the nail-biting tension that makes the first two acts work so well, and the film starts to place a heavier emphasis on CGI and direct shots at monsters to get the audience riled up. This is ultimately a minor quibble when we look at how well Annabelle: Creation is directed, but it underscores an issue that every Conjuring property will need to acknowledge in the future. Much like in the comic book movie genre, not every horror movie needs to end on a big and loud note.

With all of that considered, Annabelle: Creation is easily one of the better installments in the burgeoning Conjuring universe, and it even features a handful of moments that support the case that it's the best of the bunch. This sub-franchise got off to a rocky start in 2014, but David F. Sandberg has handily turned Annabelle into one of the modern horror genre's best properties -- even if a few of the movie's later scares don't land. If you consider yourself a horror fan in any capacity, then put this terrifying prequel at the top of your "must watch" list.

The upcoming Annabelle: Creation isn't a typical horror movie sequel. While the movie's 2014 predecessor was a period film in its own right, set in the year 1967, the follow-up chooses not to directly continue that story, but instead goes back in time by a decade to tell an origin story of sorts. Because of this, there is a certain disconnect between the central thrust of both narratives -- connected only by the presence of the titular doll -- but producer Peter Safran has promised that the two movies are very much connected through the events that ultimately play out, flowing into each other naturally as two chapters of the same story.

I had the opportunity to learn all about Annabelle: Creation and the building Conjuring Cinematic Universe when I drove out to the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California last summer to visit the set of the David F. Sandberg (Lights Out) film while it was still in production. The group of journalists of which I was a part had the chance to sit down for an extensive interview with Peter Safran, and it was while digging into the formation of the sequel that the filmmaker discussed the project's origins and connections to the first movie:

With the exception of its titular doll, Annabelle: Creation features a completely different set of characters from the original Annabelle, moving the focus away from the young married couple in the first film and set in the year 1957. The story centers on a group of orphan girls and their nun caretaker (Stephanie Sigman), who find themselves stranded after their orphanage is closed down. Fortunately, they receive some kindness courtesy of Samuel Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia), who is a retired dollmaker who spends his days taking care of his catatonic wife (Miranda Otto). Unfortunately, the house is full of some seriously bad juju thanks to the death of the Mullins' daughter 12 years previous, and before long the girls find themselves tortured by otherworldly spirits.

Of course, having Annabelle: Creation tie back to the original Annabelle is important for the future of the franchise, as both movies are part of the cinematic universe that is slowly starting to grow around James Wan's The Conjuring movies. Peter Safran admitted to us in our interview that there isn't any kind of master plan that has existed for years to get the projects off the ground, but did note that they are now genuinely focusing on continuity and trying to build a better sense of cohesiveness between all of their projects (including not only Annabelle and Conjuring films, but also The Nun, which is currently in development). Said Safran,

I followed up by asking if this description meant The Nun would wind up being the earliest movie in the franchise timeline, and Peter Safran laughed and said, "It could be!"

While it was originally scheduled to arrive in theaters in the first half of the year, Annabelle: Creation is still in post-production, and will be coming to a cinema near you on August 11th. Stay tuned for that release, as well as more from my time on the set of the exciting new horror film!

It's something of a universal truth that antique dolls are one of the scariest things on the planet. I know it, you know it, and Warner Bros. sure as hell knows it, because they keep making horror films about them. The Annabelle doll originally appeared in The Conjuring, but has since spun-off into its own horror franchise. The latest film is Annabelle: Creation, which sets out to deliver an origin story for the evil doll. The latest trailer for the horror flick has officially dropped, and you might want to make sure there are other people in the room because it is very unsettling.

I'll admit to not being big on horror films due to my easily startled nature, so maybe it's not a big deal when I say I was deeply uncomfortable watching this trailer. Annabelle: Creation is live on YouTube, giving viewers goosebumps and reinforcing a distrust in dolls. Set in The Conjuring Universe, the prequel's trailer is filled with horror staples: heavy shadows, creepy children, old record players, and plenty of jump scares. Whether it's all as scary in theaters is left to be seen, but this looks to be a pretty solid horror experience.

Annabelle: Creation is the fourth film in The Conjuring Universe, and is the prequel to 2014's Annabelle. This new film explores the origins of the titular demon doll. The story is focused on a dollmaker and his wife who lost their young daughter in an accident 20 years earlier. The two open their home to a nun and several girls from an orphanage, but who soon become targets of Annabelle. The first Annabelle made a boatload of cash (over $250 million worldwide) on a minimal budget, but the film was not received well by critics and horror fans who deemed it inferior to The Conjuring. We'll see if Warner Bros. learned any lessons and improved upon this new prequel.

Original Annabelle director John R. Leonetti did not return for Annabelle: Creation, and instead David F. Sandberg has taken over directing duties. Sandberg is a rising figure in horror, having directed his debut feature Lights Out based on his own short film. Gary Dauberman, who wrote the first Annabelle, returned to pen the script for Creation. Interestingly, Dauberman wrote the script for Andy Muschetti's IT movie adaptation, which stars a killer clown -- the other universally accepted scariest thing ever.

Annabelle: Creation is set to hit theaters on August 11, 2017, and will likely make you never want to walk down any given aisle in Toys R Us ever again. For more updates on the film, make sure to keep it right here at CinemaBlend

If you're in any sort of business, you need to be prepared for the occasional legal complication. When you're in the movie business, it must seem that you're always involved in one lawsuit or another. We can now add another to Warner Bros. current list of priorities. Gerald Brittle is the author of the book The Demonologists, a book about Ed and Lorraine Warren, the paranormal investigators who are at the center of the Conjuring series of films. The author is now suing Warner Bros., director James Wan, New Line Productions, and others, for $900 million because he says he has the exclusive rights to the Warrens' story.

Warner Bros. has produced three films that come from the lives of Ed and Lorraine Warren, The Conjuring, Annabelle, and the Conjuring 2. In a massive complaint filed in Virginia federal court, Gerald Brittle claims that his original 1978 agreement with the Warrens for his book granted Brittle exclusive rights to make derivative works based on their lives as paranormal investigators. According to The Hollywood Reporter, this included a provision that the Warrens would not authorize any "competing work." When Lorraine Warren granted access to the Warrens' case files for the purposes of making the movies, she allegedly violated the agreement as Brittle was actually the one with the legal rights to do so.

Gerald Brittle's complaint goes on to argue that Warner Bros., as a massive company with plenty of lawyers, would have certainly discovered the agreement, and therefore must have knowingly ignored it.

If the idea that a person would not have the legal right to share information about their own life wasn't bizarre on its own, this story gets weirder. Gerald Brittle's lawyer apparently sent a cease and desist letter to the people cited in his suit prior to the release of The Conjuring 2, but it was apparently disregarded based on the argument that the movies weren't based on The Demonologist, but rather on historical facts. This would put the information into the realm of fair use, however, according to the complaint, that argument doesn't hold up because the events of the stories are not facts, as Brittle claims the Warrens lied about the events that took place.

So we have a case where one person didn't have the legal right to provide information they had created and where historical fact is, in fact, fiction. Somebody should make a movie about this. Although, they should probably be very careful with how they handle the contract. It's very early in this case, Warner Bros. hasn't even been officially served yet. We'll be keeping our eyes on this one as the dollar amount alone demands attention.

This has been a huge year for the Conjuring franchise. Not only was James Wan's The Conjuring 2 a smash hit in theaters this summer, but a brand new spin-off was announced in The Nun, which is in active development. Throwing a cherry on top of the horror sundae, now we have the first teaser trailer for 2017's Annabelle 2, and it will definitely send a chill down your spine. Watch it below!

Pretty creepy, right? This brand new trailer, released by Warner Bros., definitely recognizes that what an audience imagines is typically much scarier than anything that can be thrown on the screen, and thanks to some terrific acting from Miranda Otto, this teaser really pops. Given the reaction that she has to whatever is going on with that little girl, it looks like we should be expecting something seriously scary.

Directed by Swedish filmmaker David F. Sandberg (who broke out this summer with the critically-acclaimed Lights Out), Annabelle 2 is a prequel seemingly set before both the first movie and The Conjuring, and centers on a dollmaker (Anthony LaPaglia) and his wife (Miranda Otto). Years after the death of their daughter, the bereaved parents agree to let a nun (Stephanie Sigman) and some young girls from a local closed orphanage come stay with them -- but what they don't know is that the house is home to a possessed doll that begins making their lives a living hell.

Given that Annabelle 2 won't be coming out until May 2017, this trailer is definitely debuting early by Hollywood marketing standards -- but when you consider the box office competition the movie will be facing, it's understandable that the film would want to get out in front. Right now, the horror film is set to open the same day as Baywatch, The Nut Job 2, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul - not to mention the fact that it will be arriving just two weeks after the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. As such, it's not really surprising that Warner Bros. wants to get Annabelle 2 on audiences' radar early, so that they will potentially be anticipating the film for months to come.

How did you feel about this first teaser trailer for Annabelle 2? Based on the footage, do you think it's a movie for which you'll be buying a ticket? Hit the comments section below with your thoughts and look for the film in theaters on May 19, 2017.

January isn’t typically the biggest month for Blu-ray, DVD and streaming releases, but thanks to the glories of awards season and midseason premieres on television, there’s quite a bit of good stuff popping up over the next several weeks, ranging from Nightcrawler to the latest season of HBO’s Girls. If you want to know when your favorite movies are headed onto Blu-ray and DVD, as well as streaming services, this list is one to peruse. Check back each week for new reviews!

January 6

No Good Deed Blu-ray

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s latest thriller may use a lot of basic tricks to set the mood in No Good Deed, but nothing can compete with Idris Elba’s onscreen presence and Taraji P. Henson’s ability to look wide-eyed and kick ass at the same time. The movie is about a stranger, Colin (Elba) who invades a woman named Terry’s (Henson) home on a rainy night. While elements of the script could have been a little compelling, the movie looks great on Blu-ray, despite a nighttime setting and plenty of dark scenes. It’s a little light on the bonus features with three featurettes "Making A Thriller", "The Thrill Of A Good Fight," and "Good Samaritan," but you can purchase the set here.

Boyhood Blu-ray

Richard Linklater’s latest movie, Boyhood, has been praised for its core concept—following a young boy who grows into a young man over a period of more than a decade, a monumental achievement considering Linklater and leads Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette had no idea if the kid actors would pan out as they started to deal with much tougher material. But Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater crush it, giving us a movie that reminds viewers of and sometimes adequately reflects our childhoods. Boyhood had a small release and didn’t make it into a ton of theaters. That being said, IFC has put out a nice Blu-ray set that takes a fascinating look behind-the-scenes of the making of the movie. These aren’t always the best segments, but with a movie that took 12 years to make, you’ll learn how Linklater originally outlined the movie and how it changed as his cast changed and grew older. It’s pretty great. You can grab the set for a great sale price here.

Girls: The Complete Third Season DVD

The packaging for HBO Home Entertainment’s comedies has routinely never been as spectacular as their dramas, likely because the comedies are a less lucrative enterprise. Plus, since there are no CGi’d dragons, it doesn’t matter whether or not you watch the set in glorious HD picture. The DVD set for Girls: The Complete Third Season features Hannah (Lena Dunham), Marnie (Allison Williams), Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) and Jessa (Jemima Kirke) as they go on a brand new set of misadventures that end up landing them back at square one by the end of the season. Which should set things up pretty nicely during Season 4, which hits the TV schedule this weekend. You can catch up with Girls via HBO Go or order the set over at Amazon.

Other January 6 Blu-ray And DVD Releases

Archer (Vice): The Complete Fifth Season

Black Sails: The Complete First Season

Horns

Looking: The Complete First Season

Left Behind

Get On Up

Dinosaur 13

January 6 Early Digital Releases

Lucy

No Good Deed

Laggies

The Newsroom, Season 3

The Scorpion King 4

Love Is Strange

January 13

Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Fifth Season DVD

HBO graciously gave Boardwalk Empire a shortened fifth season during which the show was able to wrap up its storyline. In order to do that Terence Winter and the gang shot ahead to 1931. While the time hopping is chunky and the episode count is shorter (8 total) than fans would like, Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Fifth Season capably wraps up HBO’s Chicago, New York and Atlantic City-based drama in a manner that finishes up the stories of Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), Eli Thompson(Shea Whigham), Al Capone (Stephen Graham), Nelson Van Alden (Michael Shannon) and the other colorful personalities on the show. With so many endings and some new beginnings, the show doesn’t hold back on either the violence or strategy that captivated audiences through the episodes that came before. HBO Home Entertainment’s set is slimmer than most HBO sets, and the big extra is "Scouting the Boardwalk," which looked at how the behind-the-scenes team made the 20th Century come to life on the small screen. HBO also tossed in a freebie: the first two episodes of the acclaimed Steven Soderbergh series The Knick.

Men, Women & Children Blu-ray

Director Jason Reitman’s latest film Men, Women and Children takes a look at technology and consumption and the myriad of ways that our relationships are affected by modern-day communications. The story follows an ensemble cast and hops perspectives frequently, with certain characters’ stories overlapping. Most compelling among these is Judy Greer’s Donna Clint, a mother who developed a risqué website to post her daughter, Hannah’s (Olivia Crocicchia), photos. Don and Helen Truby (Adam Sandler and Rosemarie DeWitt) are busy learning to use the internet as a tool to meet other people, missing out on the fact that their son Chris (Travis Tope) has a porn issue. The stories themselves are well-layered and intriguing, but they are set to a narrator (Emma Thompson) who is obsessed with discussing things on a grand scale. For a movie that tries to be grandiose, Paramount Home Entertainment’s Blu-ray set scales down to just a few extras, including deleted scenes and two featurettes, "Virtual Intimacy" and "Seamless Interface." Men, Women & Children is worth a watch for its underlying statements about relationships, but it may be one to rent.

Gone Girl Blu-ray

Gone Girl is a slow, crazy burn. It’s a character study involving ridiculous people, and a carefully put together thriller that keeps audiences guessing. Perhaps more importantly, it’s a book adaptation in all the best ways. It takes the general outline and sticks to it, but it changes portions of the material that are clearly problems. It’s a master work by director David Fincher, and while it didn’t net as many Oscar nominations as some would have hoped, it did snag a nomination for lead actress Rosamund Pike who crushes it as Amy, the title character and protagonist of the fictional series of children’s books Amazing Amy. The Gone Girl set comes with a sample book from the series, as well as an army of special features. In all, it's the type of set you would expect from a movie that's so diligent, detail oriented and complicated.

January 13 Blu-ray And DVD Releases

The Twilight Saga: Extended Editions Twilight/New Moon/Eclipse Blu-ray

Jessabelle

The Scorpion King 4: Quest For Power

The Identical

The Two Faces Of January

Revenge of the Green Dragons

Love Is Strange

Rudderless DVD

Duck Dynasty: Before the Dynasty DVD

Middle of Nowhere DVD

Wetlands

January 13 Early Digital Releases

Ouija

Jessabelle

Bird People

January 20

Lucy Blu-ray

Lucy’s a fast-paced action movie with less-than-modest intentions. Director Luc Besson loosely ties in solid action with the idea that the brain can’t achieve more than 10% capacity. When a new drug enters Lucy’s (Scarlett Johansson) system, the young woman begins experiencing enhanced powers, including telekinesis and mind-reading. She may not have much time, but Besson’s sensory movie is sometimes nonsensical, but is more often fun and involving and is worth a first watch or a re-watch, depending on whether you caught the film during its initial release. Fans of Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s film should find a smartly packaged Blu-ray set.

Annabelle Blu-ray

Annabelle is the prequel to the hit horror flick The Conjuring. As such, there were high expectations going into the release of the Warner Bros. Film. Luckily, it has perhaps the world’s creepiest horror prop going into the movie it its title character, Annabelle, a possessed doll who causes trouble for young mother Mia (Annabelle Wallis) and bookstore owner Evelyn (Alfre Woodard) who unite causes to take down the evil in the doll. There’s nothing new about the setup or premise in the movie, but it certainly has its moments, and the doll itself should frighten sufficiently. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s set is a perfect companion to The Conjuring, although the extras on the set are nothing to write home about. Eight deleted scenes comprise a big chunk of the bonus features, and a few short featurettes are also included. It’s currently running as a bestseller on Amazon and you can nab the flick for a sale price.

The Boxtrolls Blu-ray

Laika has been putting together reasonably scary kids flicks like ParaNorman for the past several years. In 2014, the animation company embraced the weirdness even further with The Box Trolls, a family-friendly flick about an orphan named Eggs (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) who meets a snob named Winnie (Elle Fanning) and collectively use their oddball skill sets to save a group trolls named the Boxtrolls from the villainous Snatcher (Ben Kingsley), who wants to exterminate them. The likable thing about the stop-motion animation that Laika produces is that there is a lot going on in both the forefront and background in every scene, which gives kids and parents a lot to look at. Additionally, there are off-color jokes for the adults and plenty of fun gags for the kids, throughout. (If your child doesn’t shout "jelly" in the car a few times on the way home, I’d be surprised.) Peppered with lovely featurettes that are more for the interested adults than the kiddos and feature commentary from Directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacci, The Boxtrolls is a welcome addition to the Laika cannon, although I don’t know if I’ll dust this Universal Studios Home Entertainment set off and pop it in as often as I will ParaNorman.

Check out a sampling of the bonus features with this exclusive clip.

Other January 20 Blu-ray And DVD Releases

Little House On The Prairie: Season 4 Blu-ray

The Zero Theorem Life’s A Breeze The Pirates

A Bet’s A Bet DVD

January 20 Early Digital Releases

Dear White People

Dracula Untold

The Best Of Me

January 27

Fury Blu-ray

There have been plenty of World War II movies, but David Ayer’s Fury is the first one that really puts us into the belly of the tank. It’s a movie that reminds me a bit of Norman Mailer’s classic novel The Naked and The Dead in that it is gutsy and filled with deeply detailed personalities that have been affected and change during the course of the war. Brad Pitt rocks a scar as Don "Wardaddy Collier," a soldier with a kind streak who bonds with newbie Norman "Machine" Ellison. The two are part of a tank crew that also includes Gordo (Michael Pena), Bible (Shia LeBouf), and Coon-Ass (Jon Bernthal). The movie is engaging but I wouldn’t call it entertaining, rather, Fury is an unsentimental, swaggering movie that doesn’t relent until the very end, after it’s given us every ounce of courage from the soldiers that populate the pages of its script. It’s an interesting movie, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Blu-ray set is also worth a perusal, with a ton of deleted scenes (the press release says 50 minutes and it felt like an hour’s worth of extra content that adds to the story) and a "Directors Combat Journal" featurette, which looks at Director David Ayers experience with the complications of shooting tank warfare and more. You get a lot with the R-rated set, and you can get it for a reasonable price right now.

The Judge Blu-ray

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s release is a big one this week, thanks to Robert Duvall earning nods at this year’s awards ceremonies. David Dobkin’s thoughtful movie The Judge gets a lot of things right about living off a one-lane highway in Indiana. Characters get stuck behind the occasional tractor and stick close to home, thanks to enjoying the comfort of a close-knit community. The movie itself follows the troubled Hank Palmer, a high-end defense attorney with plenty of personal troubles, who heads home for the first time in years after his mother unexpectedly dies. While at home, he’s forced to confront the problems he has with the rest of his family, including brothers Glen and Dale (Vincent D’ and his father, Judge Joseph Palmer (Duvall). A murder case takes a backseat to the family dynamics, but overall The Judge is a pleasant movie to plow through. The Judge Blu-ray set has plenty of extras, but none are standouts. Check out the deleted scenes and the "Inside The Judge" feature.

Other January 27 Blu-ray And DVD Releases

PBS Masterpiece: Downton Abbey: Season 5

Justice League: Throne Of Atlantis

Open Windows

Mas Negro Que La Noche DVD

Big Driver DVD

January 27 Early Digital Releases

Nightcrawler

Kill The Messenger

The Remaining

Low Down

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As the most-used website on the internet, Google has a ton of access to information about our society, and by analyzing their numbers can come up with lists of the biggest trends during a certain amount of time. Today they have revealed the top 10 searches when it comes to movies in 2014 – and the results they came up with are pretty surprising.

Posted along with Top 10s in all kinds of other categories – from actors to books to workouts to gifs – the Google trending Top 10 for movies has a good number of titles that make a lot of sense and would understandably generate a lot of searches, but also a ton of picks that come right out of left field. Take a look at the list below!

Is anyone surprised by this? It may not have been released in 2014, but the Frozen phenomenon just won’t quit. It’s all but guaranteed that someone somewhere out there right now is still trying to hit the high notes in "Let It Go."

Christopher Nolan’s big space adventure Interstellar captured a lot of attention throughout the year simply due to its incredibly mysterious nature, and then folks appreciated it heavily as it arrived in theaters this past November.

While Divergent didn’t exactly land with as big a splash as The Hunger Games when it was released earlier this year, you may notice that Mockingjay – Part 1 isn’t on this list. People are definitely curious about this new young-adult franchise, and it’s a good thing considering the sequel, Insurgent, is right around the corner.

David Fincher’s latest had a nice edge thanks to the fact that it was based on a very popular, well-reviewed book that people we’re Googling long before the movie, but it certainly didn’t hurt that Gone Girl wound up being one of the best of the year.

Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor is another movie that was actually officially released in 2013, and while its $149 million global take isn’t incredibly impressive, apparently it got a lot of people heading to Google and doing searches for it.

If you’ll pardon the pun, Godzilla was a monster hit when it was released back in May, and was able to pull in huge numbers despite the fact that it was released during a rather crowded season. Folks are definitely interested in Godzilla, which is good considering the sequel is just a few years away.

Apparently not that many people were Googling about The LEGO Movie - despite the fact that it is one of the year’s biggest hits, but directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller weren’t left totally out in the cold. 22 Jump Street, was not only one of the funniest and most successful comedies of the summer, but one that apparently a lot of people did searches about online.

Apparently it wasn’t enough for Walt Disney Animation to have just the top spot where Google search trends in 2014 are concerned. Big Hero 6 has also proven to be a huge buzz-earner – and that’s despite the fact that we weren’t hearing much about it at all in the first half of the year.

When it came to the box office this October, Annabelle was definitely the Halloween champ, ultimately making a shocking $252 million worldwide on a tiny $6.5 million budget. Apparently these ticket sales led to a good number of Google searches, as it was enough to get the horror film the ninth place spot.

It’s fair to say that Disney won the Google trends award, right? It’s very peculiar that Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy didn’t wind up on this list, but Maleficent with Angelina Jolie is the studio’s third ranking title. Disney definitely knows how to drive people to the search bar.

What do you think is the biggest surprise on this list? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Despite the fact that some truly stellar movies have been coming out since January, the 2014 box office is severely struggling - and the next big holiday on the calendar doesn't look like it will be helping things in the slightest. In fact, analysts are saying that this Halloween may be downright horrific for the movie industry.

Variety is saying that the movie industry may want to start bracing itself for a rough Halloween, and a big part of that is simply because October 31st happens to fall on a Friday this year - one of the most popular days of the week for theater-going. While there certainly will be some people who wish to spend the night in a darkened theater, most will presumably be seeking entertainment in many other capacities, be it trick 'r treating or costume parties.

Weirdly, the trade notes that studios have actually been planning ahead when it comes to this sinkhole in the schedule, and having been planning accordingly by releasing their horror movies earlier in the month. Warner Bros. absolutely cleaned up when they sent Annabelle to theaters on October 3rd, the film having made $166 million worldwide to date, and Blumhouse Productions/Orion Pictures sent The Town That Dreaded Sundown into limited release last week. Universal Pictures has also been ahead of the game on two fronts, having put out Dracula Untold earlier this month and releasing Ouija this Friday.

Of course, this has also created a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts, because now there really aren't any movies coming out during Halloween that will draw large audiences to movie theaters. There are currently no major studio releases set to come out next weekend, and horror movies like ABCs of Death 2 and Horns will only be available in select markets. The only wide releases will be Nightcrawler with Jake Gyllenhaal and Before I Go To Sleep with Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong, Neither are exactly going to blow the doors off of anywhere (even if the former is getting quite a good bit of buzz).

It was well publicized a couple of months ago that 2014's summer at the domestic box office was absolutely miserable - despite some big hits like Guardians of the Galaxy and X-Men: Days of Future Past - and a part of that was the fact that one of the big holidays during that season was stuck on a weekend as well. Like Halloween, July 4th was on a Friday this year, and as a result audiences wound up watching fireworks instead of going to the movies. In fact, Variety says it "became the worst box office weekend for the industry since 1987." Hopefully Halloween won't be following in its footsteps.

Audiences react to horror movies in unpredictable fashion. Some cower in their seats. Many talk back to the people on the screen, warning them that someone’s behind them, or that they better not do whatever it looks like they are about to do. (Spoiler: The characters on screen usually do it, anyway.) And in France, horror crowds apparently behave like animals, throwing popcorn and attempting to rip the seats out of the theater’s floor.

This, at least, is how teenagers are reacting during screenings of John R. Leonetti’s Annabelle, according to The Guardian UK. The paper reports that movie theater managers in Marseille, Strasbourg and Montpellier have cancelled screenings of the haunted-doll horror film because teenage patrons in the multiplexes have been "fighting, throwing popcorn and even ripping up theatre seats." But it has nothing to do with the content on the screen. It’s mainly just kids being kids.

Didier Tarizzo, the owner of the Les 3 Palmes cinema in Marseilles, told the media that hordes of unruly patrons flooded his theater on a Saturday, and behaved like … well, like teenagers.

And yet, this isn’t a new phenomenon. The Guardian reports that in 2012, screenings of the horror films Paranormal Activity and Sinister also had to be cancelled because of unruly audiences being disruptive in the theaters. Don’t they know that they are supposed to look like this when they watch the Paranormal Activity movies?

French film critics weighing in on the controversy complained to the Guardian about teenagers needing to blow off steam, so they head to the theater and enjoy being disruptive. The local French managers like Tarizzo, who have no patience for this type of behavior, claim it’s "not up to me to teach young people how to respect the law," adding, "What worried me was that a cinemagoer irritated by all the noise could have had a go at an adolescent."

Don’t they know, it could have been much worse?

Annabelle is in theaters as we speak. Please leave your chairs where they are, ok?

It was a good weekend for director David Fincher and his leading man Ben Affleck. Not only was their new movie Gone Girl number one this weekend, it banked a total that is one of the highest for each.

Gone Girl's $38 million debut is the highest ever for Fincher whose previous top opener was Panic Room which opened with $30 million back in 2002. Affleck hasn't has a movie break opening weekend past $30 million since Daredevil earned $40 million in 2003.

Horror flick Annabelle took a very narrow second place with $37 million. That's a solid come back for director John Leonetti whose last notable contribution to cinema was 1997's Mortal Combat: Annihilation. While not largely likely, with less than $1 million separating them it's not impossible for Annabelle to slip into number one with actual numbers replace estimates tomorrow.

In the early 2000's Cloud Ten Pictures pushed their DVD release Left Behind into theaters with a financially dismal outcome. This year Freestyle Releasing decided to go direct to theaters with a Nic Cage driven remake with only slightly better results. It opened this weekend in sixth place with $6 million against a reported $16 million production budget. It's unlikely to turn profitable in theaters, but religious audiences may help make up the difference in home video sales.

For the full weekend top ten, check out the chart below:

Gone Girl *

$38,000,000Total: $38,000,000LW: N

THTRS: 3,014

Annabelle *

$37,200,000Total: $37,200,000LW: N

THTRS: 3,185

The Boxtrolls

$12,425,000Total: $32,539,000LW: 3

THTRS: 3,464

The Maze Runner

$12,000,000Total: $73,921,000LW: 2

THTRS: 3,605

This is Where I Leave You

$4,000,000Total: $29,003,000LW: 4

THTRS: 2,735

Dolphin Tale 2

$3,530,000Total: $37,974,000LW: 5

THTRS: 2,790

Guardians of the Galaxy

$3,034,000Total: $323,360,000LW: 8

THTRS: 1,894

The upcoming horror film Annabelle has many ties back to James Wan’s 2013 movie The Conjuring - as any prequel/spin-off would – but one link it doesn’t have is appearances from the originals’ stars. While the characters do have very important ties to the titular doll, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorainne Warren, who were played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson in last year’s horror film, don’t actually make an appearance in Annabelle. But that wasn’t necessarily always going to be the case.

This past weekend, I had the chance to sit down with Annabelle director John Leonetti and producer James Wan, and personally wondering about Farmiga and Wilson’s absence, I took the opportunity to ask if there was ever a discussion behind the scenes about having them make a cameo appearance. As it turns out, there were conversations about it, but it was ultimately decided that the schedules just wouldn’t work out, so the idea was left behind. Said Leonetti,

While Ed and Lorainne Warren don’t actually appear on screen in Annabelle, their finger prints are still all over it. To this day, the Annabelle doll (which in real life is actually a rather normal Raggedy Anne) remains as the most notable piece in the Warrens’ collection of demonically touched items. The new film even opens with a call back to the Annabelle sequence in The Conjuring where the Warrens are interviewing a pair of nurses who have felt the toy’s evilness (though the "Warrens" never actually appear on screen).

I didn’t have the opportunity to ask Leonetti and Wan about it during our short interview, but I remain curious as to what the cinematic future holds for Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga and the series. The Conjuring wound up making nearly $320 million worldwide when it was done with its box office run, and while Annabelle certainly represents an expansion of the franchise, I wonder if we’ll ever get a more direct sequel with the Warrens looking into another one of their most famous cases. It could possibly hinge on the success of Leonetti’s movie this weekend.

To hear director John Leonetti’s full answer to my question, watch the video below!

With the fall season having finally arrived, Hollywood is picking up the pace and three new flicks hitting the screen this weekend - including another much-anticipated David Fincher-directed adaptation of a best-seller. This week we’ve got girls going gone, dolls getting crazy and people being left behind.

Just remember, I'm not reviewing these movies, but rather predicting where they'll end up on the Tomatometer. Let's take a look at what This Rotten Week has to offer.

Rotten Watch Prediction

86%

I love Mrs. Rotten Week. She’s a loving, caring, fantastic wife. I’m lucky to have her around. But last night she overcooked the filet mignon and then had the f@#$ing audacity to pair it with some random cab instead of the Screaming Eagle and I’m not saying I would have killed her, but here’s to hoping no one looks at my search history over the last twenty-four hours. I mean there are mistakes, and there are MISTAKES. But til death (*wink) do us part and all that nonsense. So here I am.

Take a look at how a marriage can end bad in the trailer for Gone Girl,

All kidding (mostly) aside, Mrs. RW and I speed read this book last Christmas as we constantly battled whose turn it was to have their hands on the copy. Gillian Flynn’s novel was gripping, deceitful, smart, and devious. An almost perfect read for what it was trying to accomplish, which I believe was to wind a taut thriller with commentary about what it means to be "married" in a stagnant age. That it takes this commentary out to the furthest logical conclusion (we might kill each other) made it all the better. I loved the book. And I wasn’t alone.

That being said, I was concerned the book’s format wouldn’t lend itself directly to a film adaptation. If you’ve read it you know what I mean. And it’s hard for me to separate my having read the book (and understanding the beats) from what the film will ultimately do. So I was a bit on edge thinking this thing would miss a step or two. On that end I seem to be wrong.

I felt better knowing David Fincher (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo-86%), The Social Network-95%) was at the helm, having taken on difficult narrative landscapes in the not-too-distant past. The dude is a master and it appears he’s done it again here. The trailers give the sense of style that is muted, dark and ominous. Affleck appears to be in the dark about the central mystery as the audience, and the film looks fantastic. Critics have lavished early praise on it, and current score reflects that. I don’t suspect it drops much, if at all. Critics on the contrarian side of the aisle seem to have more problems with the source material than the film. These, I believe, will continue being the total minority.

I’ll have Mrs. RW set up date night to see it. She better not screw up the plans. Or else.

Rotten Watch Prediction

24%

My daughter plays with the following dolls/stuffed animals: Bitty Baby, Baby Baby, Baby Harper, Anna, Brave, Koalazilla, Baby Koalazilla, Dr. DoomBunny, Big Bear, Little Bear, Madeline, Madeline 2, Lion, Crazy Arm Tiger and Penny Lane. And those are just her A-List rotation. There are more on the JV squad that only enter the fray on special occasions. Of those dolls I could imagine about 90% of them killing me in my sleep. So I can identify with this film.

See what I mean in the trailer for Annabelle below:

A spin-off/ prequel of The Conjuring (86%), Annabelle tells the story of a couple that thinks bringing a creepy-ass doll into the house is a good idea under any circumstances. Honestly, just taking one look at that thing makes me not even feel bad for the couple. The doll is horrifying and anyone who would put that in their child’s room should immediately have child protective services descend en masse on their crib.

As much as this film wants to attach itself to the success of The Conjuring, I very much doubt it comes anywhere close to the critical love from that film. Director John Leonetti has very little in the way of directorial work, with his big score coming in the form of Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (3%). And while I’ll admit parts of this trailer gave me the creeps, I have a hard time feeling a flick about a satanic doll will go anywhere with the critics.

But what it will do is ensure dads like me assume our kids’ dolls are out to kills us. I’ve got my eye on you Bitty Baby.

Rotten Watch Prediction

15%

If some percentage of the world’s population disappeared instantaneously, leaving nothing in their wake but memories and a loose piece of clothing or two, I know a couple of things. One is that I’d be right here on terra firma (not to worry folks, I stand no chance of being whisked away in any kind of rapture event, no matter how loose the criteria). Also, my first stop would be my buddy Pat’s place. There’s a very slight chance he’d be yanked up to Heaven or wherever, and I’d be calling dibs on his electronics. Dude’s got quite the hookup in his house.

See what other folks do for the rapture in the trailer for Left Behind:

There is one kind of person who will like Left Behind, and everyone else will hate it. It seems pretty cut and dry. This film looks completely terrible, with Nic Cage appearing to equally balance "phoning it in for the payday" with "I’m kind of crazy anyway". I suppose that kind of mix will play well here, though I doubt the folks who see it will even notice.

Left Behind is based on the wildly popular series of the same name co-written by Timothy LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. I’m somewhat embarrassed to tell you (though I’m not totally sure why) that I’ve read the first 6 or 7 (I lost count) books in Left Behind series. So I’m intimately aware of the machinations of this thing. I understand the general conceit and the exact message everyone is trying to get across. God took everyone away and people are left on Earth to fight the coming Antichrist. That Nic Cage is the guy at the tip of the Christian Militia spear seems both hilarious and apropos, kind of at the same time.

This is a film made for the Christian right. I’m not saying that in a negative fashion. It’s just true. From purely a film standpoint, regardless of message, this flick looks awful.

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There was a winning rotten week for sure last time around. The Equalizer (Predicted: 61% Actual: 59%) stayed put after my initial prediction. Fine by me. I love Denzel in these kind of roles and have no doubt this flick is right up my alley. It wasn’t a total win with the critics, but for a revenge/action movie, this is about as good as one can hope for.

Meanwhile, The Boxtrolls (Predicted: 75% Actual: 71%) also stayed true to the initial reviews with staying put over the course of the week. The concept it weird, and I can’t say I’m a fan of this kind of animation, but it marks another win for Laika, which has found a niche with odd movies like Coraline and ParaNorman already. They are putting out a different kind of animated flick, and I respect that. Even if I have no plans to ever see this thing.

Next time around we get addicted, revisit Dracula, become a judge and have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. It’s going to be a Rotten Week!

When Justin Lin came aboard the Fast & Furious with Tokyo Drift back in 2006, he pulled off something rather creative. By introducing Han, played by Sung Kang, into the series, the director managed to create a continuity connection between the car racing franchise and Lin’s directorial debut, the indie thriller Better Luck Tomorrow. It was such a fascinating and unique move that it got me wondering if Fast & Furious 7 helmer James Wan would be game to do something similar. So when I got the chance to speak with the filmmaker this past weekend, I took the opportunity to ask.

This past weekend I took part in the press junket for the new horror film Annabelle (the upcoming spin-off from 2013's The Conjuring), and while sitting down with John Leonetti (Annabelle’s director) and James Wan (Annabelle’s producer), I asked point blank if there was a possibility that the Fast & Furious franchise took place in the same cinematic universe as his previous movies. As you can see in the video below, the filmmaker was thoroughly amused by my question, and while he played down the idea of any connection between Fast & Furious 7 and The Conjuring/Annabelle, he did hint that there is a relationship between his newest film and one of his older titles. Said Wan,

Looking back on Wan’s 2007 film, it’s not hard to see why the director would reach back to that experience while making Fast & Furious 7. In addition to the fact that the film was Wan’s first venture out of the horror genre, both movies have important themes of revenge, as the 2015 action film will feature Ian Shaw (Jason Statham) looking for payback from Dom (Vin Diesel) and his crew following the death of his brother, Owen Shaw (Lee Evans), in Fast & Furious 6.

Being the continuity nerd that I am and not being fully satisfied with the answer, I pursued the topic a bit further, asking if Death Sentence could perhaps wind up being part of the Fast & Furious world. He replied,

I don’t know how the rest of you feel, but that idea sounds pretty badass to me.

Annabelle arrives in theaters this weekend, while Fast & Furious 7 will be out on April 3, 2015.

Good day, clawers of all things coffin-topped. Theaters this weekend have something for both those interested in domestic thrillers, as both Sam Miller’s No Good Deeds, and Leigh Janiak’s festival-fave indie horror Honeymoon are both out now. No, No Good Deeds doesn’t really delve in horror, but it puts the stellar Idris Elba that much closer to my genre of choice. Somebody give this guy a machete and send him after teenagers!

In smaller news, release dates are all the rage. Relativity will be putting Tom Harper’s The Woman in Black: Angel of Death in theaters on January 30th, during what is generally considered to be the worst time of the year for quality film debuts (and the last few weeks are particularly January-ish.) Mega-producer Jason Blum announced the Blumhouse offshoot BH Tilt, a label that will handle the distribution of horrors that aren’t headed for wide releases yet. The companies’ first slate includes several long-delayed flicks like Joe Carnahan’s Stretch, Joe Johnston’s Not Safe for Work, Chandler Riggs’ Mercy, Patrick Brice’s Creep trilogy, and the film with the trailer you’ll find below.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown’s First Trailer Looks Goddamned Amazing

Ever since it was first announced, I’ve had an admittedly unhealthy level of optimism invested in Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s The Town That Dreaded Sundown, a meta-remake-sequel of Charles B. Pierce’s fairly terrifying 1976 thriller of the same name. The original was based on a series of real-life murders in Texarkana committed by a sack-headed killer who was never caught; this modern-day update takes place in a world where the original film exists, and the murders start happening anew. Check out "anew" poster below.

Ryan Murphy, one of the guys behind FX’s American Horror Story, spearheaded this project as producer, and his touch is all over this trailer. I love that the hook of this version twists the mystery behind who is committing the Moonlight Murders. Are we dealing with a sadistic copycat killer with a digitally manipulated voice, or is it some kind of an all-evil spirit dead-set on making people remember its past work? The whole "he’s using this girl as a messenger" tactic is kind of dumb, though Addison Timlin looks like she’ll do a fine job as the token scream queen. And in any case, her family history is supposed to be tied to the murders, so I’ll buy into it. With a cast that also includes Gary Cole, Denis O’Hare, Edward Herrmann and Spencer Treat Clark, The Town That Dreaded Sundown will hit theaters on October 16th. That's my birthday, so it'd be nice if this movie scared the shit out of me, and also if someone bought me some new boxers.

Tusk Drops New Poster, Inspires Marijuana Tie-In

With the surreal horror Tusk, Kevin Smith has delivered the most unexpected film of his career - and its recent premiere at TIFF predictably split audiences in half (not physically, of course). In the film, a podcaster played by Justin Long takes on a story that leads him up to Canada and into the clutches of a maniac seafarer (Michael Parks) who has a particular fascination for all things walrus. Long’s character is forced into a new lifestyle, inspiring the visuals behind the new poster seen above (via BloodyDisgusting). The shadows knows...walruses.

But the poster isn’t the only bit of marketing A24 is rolling out in the weeks leading up to the film’s theatrical release. The official website allows visitors to take pictures of themselves to add into another mammalian poster. That’s me in the above picture, channeling my inner walrus. And if you’re someone who imbibes on the sticky icky, the L.A. dispensary Buds and Roses have introduced two strains of medical marijuana inspired by the film, nicknamed "Mr. Tusk" and "White Walrus." Happy...ummm...viewing!

The Houses October Built Trailer Makes Haunted Houses Scary Again

The older I get, the less scary horror movies seem to be, so nothing gets my blood flowing these days quite like an extravagantly produced haunted house. (Can we get those up and running all year long, please?) I couldn’t be more excited about Bobby Roe’s feature debut The Houses October Built, a movie about people looking for the scariest haunted house in existence. Drawing my excitement out more is the film’s first trailer, seen above, which was released along with a poster, an updated synopsis and a release date. Though the found-footage element makes me instinctively wary and the trailer’s music is overbearing, this is just the kind of go-for-broke narrative that adds a refreshing spin to the often stale supernatural thriller.

Five friends – Brandy Schaefer, Zack Andrews, Jeff Larson, Bobby Roe and Mikey Roe – all go on a road trip quest to seek out haunts where the terror doesn't hide behind make-up and strobe lights. They find a place in Louisiana where unexplainable things happen, and "it becomes clear that the haunt has come to them." Ahhh!! Evil clowns are always welcome, as are bodies that appear as if from nowhere, but it’s that white porcelain doll-looking bitch and her piercing screams that get to me. So let’s hope these characters are enjoyable enough that the early part of the movie isn’t horrific in an unintentional way. The Houses October Built will hit VOD and begin a limited theatrical run on October 10th. Will this be the next great Halloween flick?

Annabelle Releases A New TV Spot, Gets An MPAA Rating

Everything has a beginning and an end, right? Okay, so some horror franchises feel like they’ll never end. Before The Conjuring, and even during it, there was Annabelle, the hideous beast that could stand to dethrone Chucky as cinema’s King of the Creepy Dolls. New Line and Warner Bros. released the TV spot seen above, which plays into Annabelle’s origins. The film centers on the doll-owning couple (Ward Horton and Annabelle Wallis), who are the victims of a violent home invasion by a group of satanic cult members, whose worst sin is unleashing the evil hidden inside of Annabelle’s plastic frame. Check out the full trailer below.

While I won’t say it would be impossible for Annabelle to bring real scares with a PG-13 rating, it’s encouraging that the film earned an R-rating from the MPAA, the same fate as James Wan’s The Conjuring. I didn’t find that film really pushed any ratings boundaries, but I’m guessing the "intense sequences of disturbing violence and terror" have a lot to do with that cult bringing the pain to the married couple. I really want to see this doll get up and start stabbing people in the face, too, so I hope that’s part of it. It doesn’t need to be extremely gory or anything. It just needs to involve this doll doing the evil, rather than just being a ghostly entity. Find out just how terrifying it will be when Annabelle hits theaters on October 3rd.

Cooties Has Shot A Different, Better Ending

It isn’t often that a filmmaker is given the chance to go back and make additions to an already completed film. Luckily for first-time filmmakers Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion, when their film Cooties was picked up by Lionsgate back in January, their chance to do that opened up. A part of that deal eventually included the studio ponying up extra money to go back and film a different ending. An ending that the directors and co-star Elijah Wood, whose SpectreVision label produced Cooties, were more comfortable with on the final project.

Speaking with Twitch, Wood said the initial production's financial restrictions allowed them an ending that they weren’t overly happy with. But now the new ending has been filmed and Wood says they’re looking at a January release date. Cooties centers on a cannibal zombie virus infecting an elementary school’s student body and also stars Rainn Wilson, Alison Pill, co-writer Leigh Whannell, Jack McBrayer and Jorge Garcia. Lionsgate still hasn’t given Cooties an official release date yet, but we’ll let you know when you can catch it (get it?)

You loved The Conjuring so here comes Annabelle, another horror movie ripped from the case files of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. You might well remember, Annabelle was the name of a cursed doll who factored into the third act of last summer's horror blockbuster. Now, she's got a movie all her own, and you can get a pretty good look at her and the demon attached to her in the trailer above.

Penned by Bloodmonkey and Swamp Devil scribe Gary Dauberman, Annabelle centers on a young family whose lives take a terrible turn when an eerie home invader terrorizes them, and then bleeds to death on the creepy doll they've voluntarily brought into their home. From there, they can't escape this undead visitor who seems hell-bent on their annihilation. Annabelle Wallis stars as Mia, who is pregnant with her first child. Ward Horton plays husband John, while Eric Ladin takes the role of Pete Higgins. And the wonderful Alfre Woodard shoulders the part of the mystical Evelyn in John R. Leonetti's follow-up to The Butterfly Effect 2.

Are you impressed with this Annabelle trailer? Because I'm not. The starting point of "haunted doll" is one you could do so much with, and yet Warner Bros seems content to stick to convention, studding this trailer with predictable jump scares, shots of a marred doll, and a villainess who wears the uniform long dark hair and long white dress. Linked to The Conjuring, this spin-off could have taken some major risks and still have pulled in a worthwhile audience. Instead, it seems like they rushed a movie into production that is so standard, I am pretty sure we've already seen it.

Additionally disappointing, this trailer did little to build on the teaser from last month.

The teaser gave us a more detailed look at the inciting incident of Annabelle's conflict, and frankly it was scarier. It teased the possibility of a haunting by this dangerous woman, but didn't give up the goods. Now the trailer up top has, and it seems like they're rotten.

What do you think?

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Annabelle opens October 3rd.

Is it just us, the people of the modern age, who only owned dolls and stuffed animals that were actually attractive things to behold? The fact that anyone would ever want to own and display a doll that looks like a plastic whorechild is beyond me, and that’s just the kind of thing that makes me all the more wary of Warner Bros. and New Line’s upcoming horror Annabelle, a prequel spinoff of James Wan’s hugely successful haunted house flick The Conjuring. We have our very first look at the film through the teaser trailer seen above, and it looks…exactly as you’d imagine it would.

This trailer is actually more of a pre-title-card sequence, as we’re introduced to both actors Ward Horton and Annabelle Wallis as well as Annabelle, who is presented as a gift. A GIFT! Not only do viewers have to suspend their disbelief to accept a children’s toy getting possessed by some malevolent spirit, but we’re also supposed to believe that this woman was actually looking for this doll for a long time?

"Ah, now I can finally complete my collection of bipedal nightmare machines."

I do rather enjoy this different mode of trailer creation, as it doesn’t quite appear to give anything away from the bulk of the film. Unless having these people die is a huge spoiler or something; in which case, this is the worst trailer ever. I expected the story to basically be a retreading of The Conjuring (and, by extension, every other paranormal object movie that’s ever existed), so this teaser doesn’t really disrupt that thought process. I assume the moments after Annabelle gets blood in her eye is when Alfre Woodard and Eric Ladin’s detective character come in and try to figure out what’s going on. (Hint: a doll is haunting people.) Regardless of the facts being displayed, though, this looks and sounds exactly like every other thriller out there.

Directed by Mortal Kombat: Annihilation’s John R. Leonetti, Annabelle presumably won’t stick too closely to the doll’s actual history, which was summed up in the Conjuring’s opening. Annabelle’s case is actually in the records kept by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, but they don’t appear to have anything to do with this one. And it doesn’t take a genius to assume that their absence means this movie will be open-ended, welcoming an endless line of sequels. But at least that would be an original idea, basing a franchise on a killer doll. Wait…

Never mind. Expect to find Annabelle sitting in your chair spinning its head around when it hits theaters on October 3, 2014.

Remember that creepy doll called Annabelle whose tale of terror served as the introduction into the weird world of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren in the summer hit The Conjuring? Of course you do! Well, this chilling child's toy is getting a horror movie all her own, and New Line is proud to announce the two actors she'll terrorize.

The Wrap has revealed Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton will be leading the low-budget spin-off of The Conjuring, which is slated to be called simply, Annabelle. With The Conjuring's director James Wan having moved on to bigger, brawnier projects like Fast & Furious 7, he will instead serve as executive producer here. Stepping up to the director's chair will be his Conjuring cinematographer John R. Leonetti, whose previous directorial credits include Mortal Kombat: Annihilation and The Butterfly Effect 2.

Wallis is an English actress who had small roles in X-Men: First Class and Snow White and the Huntsman. She is probably best known, however, for her turn as Jane Seymour in the Showtime historical drama The Tudors or as Grace Burgess on the English drama series Peaky Blinders, which focuses on the gangsters of 1920s Birmingham. Here's a brief clip of her in action:

For his part, Horton is a New Jersey native who has worked predominantly in television over the past ten years with one-off roles and a recurring part on One Life To Live. He can currently be seen in a small supporting role as a broker in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street. Below you can watch his acting reel from 2011:

So what kind of trouble are these two attractive blondes going to get up to? That is at present a complete mystery. Sure, the Annabelle doll is based on an actual case the Warren's covered, but it's unclear how much that story will serve as an inspiration here. Also unknown is how this movie might relate to The Conjuring's established Annabelle mythos nor how it'll connect to the already announced Conjuring sequel. Could Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga come back as the Warrens? Or is this to be a story that predates the duo's involvement with the doll? All this is currently unknown. But with production set to kick off this spring, we suspect more details will surface shortly.

In the meantime, this short video will recap the actual Annabelle tale:

The Conjuring has already made a name for itself in 2013, thanks to some scary trailers which led into one of this year’s creepiest films. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s flick already tore it up at the box office, but it is headed to homes next week and one lucky winner will be able to take home The Conjuring prize pack, courtesy of the studio. We’re giving away one Blu-ray copy of the film, along with the world’s creepiest Annabelle doll. Details concerning the giveaway are listed below.

The Conjuring will officially be available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on October 22. The Blu-ray copy of the film, which follows a family known as the Perrons after they move to a new home in Rhode Island. Soon, strange events of the paranormal variety begin to occur and eventually scare the family enough to call in paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren for help. You can check out the bonus features for the set, or even pre-order the movie over at the WB Shop. However, if you are feeling lucky, you can just enter our giveaway, below.

But first, here’s a look at the creepy Annabelle doll that comes as a part of this awesome giveaway. The flick is based on a true story, and this creepy doll is very much a part of that story. I know you want it staring at you every night in your own home.

Entering is easy. Just click on over to our Facebook Giveaway Post, "Like" our page if you haven't already, and then leave a comment on the page telling us what your favorite horror movie prop is and why! The giveaway ends at 12 p.m. ET on Monday, October 21. If you enter, please make sure we can contact you via Facebook. If you have it set to where we can't contact you, your prize will go to somebody else.

The winner will be notified via Facebook and asked to provide their mailing addresses (no P.O. boxes please). Only U.S. residents over the age of 18 may apply. Prize packs will be mailed directly to the winner. No purchase necessary. Failure to comply with the rules will result in disqualification and subsequent mockery. Good luck!