The Conjuring: Last Rites Director Reacts To Matt Rife Buying The Warren's House And Annabelle Doll, And I Was Not Expecting His Take

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.

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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.