SDCC 2018: James Wan Announces Another ANNABELLE Movie

You know who loves making creepy doll movies? James Wan. 

Yesterday, we learned that Wan (director of Saw and Dead Silence; producer on Annabelle, Annabelle Creation) was partnering with the folks at Blumhouse to produce another new killer-doll feature called M3gan, which will tell the story of “a brilliant toy company roboticist who uses artificial intelligence to develop M3GAN, a life-like doll programmed to emotionally bond with her newly orphaned niece. But when the doll’s programming works too well, she becomes overprotective of her new friend…with terrifying results.”

Not satisfied to add just one more creepy doll movie to his resume, Wan also popped up last night at SDCC's "ScareDiego" event to announce yet another Annabelle sequel. Slated to arrive next July, the third Annabelle film will be written by IT: Chapter Two's Gary Dauberman, who described the project thusly:

“I’m still finalizing the script, but it really picks up with the Warrens bringing Annabelle to the place where it can really no longer wreak havoc, which is their artifact room. But, of course, it turns out she can also wreak havoc there. And she really awakens the evil within that room and they target the Warrens’ 10-year-old daughter, Judy. So, that’s the set-up.”

Wan's elevator pitch was a little punchier:

“Annabelle basically activates all the other haunted artifacts in that room. So, it’s basically A Night at the Museum, with Annabelle!”

Whether or not you're excited about this will largely depend on how you felt about the last two Annabelle movies (and Annabelle's appearance in The Conjuring). On the one hand, it certainly feels like this tiny, silent, mostly motionless character has about run out of steam. On the other hand, Annabelle movies continue to do well at the box office, and every time they make one, this five-year-old post ends up generating a ton of extra traffic for this site. Plus, let's be honest: "A Night at the Museum, but with Annabelle" is a fun pitch. 

Anyway, nothing further to report at this time, but we're sure to hear more in the months ahead: Annabelle 3 (or whatever it ends up being called) hits theaters on July 3rd, 2019. Stay tuned.