The Conjuring franchise was already a massive success before its most recent entry, The Conjuring: Last Rites, had the biggest opening weekend in horror movie history. The film, which was billed as the ending to James Wan's long-running franchise, earned $194 million worldwide, breaking the 2017 record set by Andy Muschietti’s adaptation of Stephen King’s It. Of course, Hollywood only has one response to that sort of achievement: keep the money train going by making another Conjuring movie.
That’s been the policy for more than a decade, since the paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) first appeared in Wan’s 2013 film The Conjuring. Wan also directed the first Saw movie and has served as executive producer for the rest of the serial killer franchise. He's no stranger to building on a hit. The Conjuring: Last Rites is the ninth film in The Conjuring universe, but it was meant to be the franchise’s last, closing out the Warrens’ story.
And yet, Warner Bros. and New Line had already hinted that they could take the Conjuring into a new phase. Puck reports that New Line is currently plotting out a Conjuring prequel, which would be separate from the Annabelle spinoff prequel series and the Conjuring spinoff show in the works for HBO Max.
Wan hasn’t directed any of the Conjuring films since 2016’s The Conjuring 2, though he’s remained a producer on the whole franchise. Wan’s production company Atomic Monster merged with Blumhouse Productions last year, which has also created some added legal tension as Warner. attempts to expand its hit horror franchise, with or without it's creators support.
As Puck reports, Wan has been fighting with Warner Bros. over how much of a cut he should get for all future Conjuring productions, so presumably that deal will need to be worked out before the series can move forward. Whether they find a way to pay for his continued support or exorcise Wan altogether, Warner Bros. can’t deny the franchise’s unholy box office power.
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