With The Conjuring 2 still in its first week or two of release (depending where you are), New Line are already planning a spinoff centred around the film’s demonic nun.
The Conjuring 2 co-writer David Leslie Johnson has been hired to pen the film, tentatively titled The Nun. Conjuring Director James Wan and producer Peter Safran will produce the film, which New Line will presumably be hurrying into development.
Despite being the film’s lead antagonist, the nun character did not become a part of The Conjuring 2 until just a few months before release, prompting a number of reshoots. In the initial cut of the film, the main villain was a horned demon, but a last-minute idea came to Wan, who pitched the nun to New Line. It says a lot about the trust the studio have in Wan and his proven box-office success that they would go for such a drastic change so close to the film’s release.
The Nun will of course not be the first Conjuring spinoff, with Annabelle becoming a hit in 2014, and Annabelle II slated for a 2017 release. Wan has already talked about the potential for further Conjuring films, taken from the many stories of paranormal investigators The Warrens, played in the films by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson. With The Nun in the works, it looks like The Conjuring is spawning its own expanded universe. With all that’s followed, it’s hard to believe it’s only been three years since the original film first hit screens.
Words: Kevan Farrow (@KevanX)
