One Important Thing The Conjuring 3 Needs To Do Differently, According To Its Producer

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When it comes to modern horror franchises, director James Wan has built something incredibly successful with The Conjuring movies. The two films we've seen so far, released in 2013 and 2016, respectively, have not only been huge box office hits, but also managed to receive high marks from critics (fairly rare within the genre). Because of this, it's only natural that The Conjuring 3 has already started to move through development... but it seems as though the next chapter will stand out from the previous two. Why? Because it looks like Ed and Lorraine Warren won't just be investigating another haunted house. According to producer Peter Safran,

There are some [cases] that maybe aren't as well known, but they spent a fair bit of time researching and were part of [them]. Clearly we can't do another haunted house movie, right? We can't do another supernatural possession in a house, with a family in peril. Right? So, it's got to be something different than that, I think.

I had the chance to speak with Peter Safran last summer when a group of film journalists including myself visited the set of the newest Conjuring spin-off, Annabelle: Creation, while it was still in production on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California. Because Safran is heavily involved with all of the developing Conjuring Cinematic Universe movies, the conversation turned towards plans for what will ultimately be The Conjuring 3 -- and while it seems that the filmmakers have not quite nailed down exactly what they want to do yet, fans shouldn't expect another story of vengeful spirits terrorizing a random family.

Fortunately, the career of Ed and Lorraine Warren as supernatural investigators is full of strange, wild, and different tales. While the couple is best known for haunting cases like The Amityville Horror and the Enfield Poltergeist, they also wrote books about encounters with other types of horrific creatures... including werewolves and Bigfoot. Peter Safran wouldn't identify any of his specific favorites, as he didn't want to show his cards in anyway, but he did put it rather succinctly with his final thoughts on the matter:

There are a lot of places to go, and there's a fair bit of material there.

Right now The Conjuring 3 doesn't have a release date, but the Conjuring Cinematic Universe is very much alive and kicking. The second spin-off series, The Nun, is scheduled to arrive in theaters next summer, but before then fans will have the opportunity to be freaked out by director David F. Sandberg's Annabelle: Creation on August 11th. Stay tuned for more updates about the franchise, as well as stories from my time on the set of Annabelle 2!

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.