Are we getting close to the end of our cinematic journey with Ed and Lorraine Warren? James Wan, who has been shepherding The Conjuring franchise from the beginning, seems to suggest that may well be the case. Maybe. One thing we know for sure is that Wan and his team are currently working on The Conjuring 4 which will bring back Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as the famed paranormal investigators. Beyond that? Nothing is certain.
Wan, who directed The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, recently spoke with Collider about his upcoming film M3GAN, which he produced. During the chat, he was asked about a fourth main film in the ever-expanding Conjuring universe. The good news? He confirmed it's being worked on. The potentially bad news? Well…
"Yeah, we are working on it right now. With the Conjuring films, we are very precious about [them]. And so we kind of want to just take our time to make sure we get it right and to make sure the emotion of the Warren stories that we want to tell, and moving into, and potentially wrapping up, we just want to make sure that it's the right thing, the right story that we're telling."
So, pretty not-definitive there, but Wan is, at the very least, pointing at the possibility that The Conjuring 4 would wrap up the story for the Warrens. That having been said, when he was pressed about it, the filmmaker responded with, "We never know. You never know. We'll see." Again, almost maddeningly non-committal. Though, in fairness, if development is in the early-ish stages, Wan is wise not to box himself in by saying something grandiose that may not be set in stone at this time.
One thing we know for sure is that the franchise isn't done yet. This year will see the release of The Nun 2, which has been a long time coming. Aside from that, it's tough to imagine that Warner Bros. would be eager to let this franchise go. To date, the series of eight movies, including the Annabelle spin-offs and The Curse of La Llorona, has earned $2.1 billion worldwide, all against combined budgets of just $179.5 million. It's as reliable as this business gets. We'll see where the chips fall as 2023 unfolds.
The Conjuring 4 does not currently have a release date.
