THE CONJURING 3 Is Happening (Without James Wan As Director)

Here’s a fun fact: a lot of people believe The Conjuring 3 is coming out this year. I mean a lot, thanks to a fan-made poster that’s been going around Facebook for the last six months…so I guess this news is kind of like having a fan-theory confirmed?

Deadline reports the horror threequel is now officially en route, with The Conjuring 2 scribe David Leslie Johnson tapped to write the next installment. The seeming downside, however, is that while James Wan (who directed the first two films) will be involved in some capacity, he won’t be returning to direct. That’s probably because he’ll be busy trying to get Aquaman in to theatres by December 2018, but I’m secretly hoping it’s because he’s working on some new groundbreaking horror project.

This wouldn't be the first time Wan has directed two films in a series before passing the baton - he directed Insidious and Insidious: Chapter 2 before his Saw co-writer Leigh Whannell took over. I guess if you wanted to, you could also count the first Saw and the preceeding short film (also called Saw) before the rest of the franchise was given to a series of thirteen year old boys, and even his 2007 films Dead Silence and Death Sentence before Paul W.S. Anderson finished the trilogy with Death Race in 2008. 

Wan’s absence from the director’s chair is a bit of a bummer. His devilishly fun tonal and atmospheric control is a major part of why these films work, but with Warner Bros. and New Line hoping to make The Conjuring something of a flagship series (along with spin-offs Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation, The Nun and, uh… The Crooked Man?) it stands to reason the folks involved won’t just hand over the reins to anyone willy-nilly.

The Conjuring 3 does not currently have a release date. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more, but in the meantime we’re going to need everyone to hold on to their various religious items and pray real hard for it to focus on Ed & Lorraine Warren’s werewolf-demon case.