The Hollywood Reporter reports that James Wan and Peter Safran, who have produced all the films in The Conjuring universe, will reprise their roles. The former took to his Instagram account to confirm that Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, the two central characters in The Conjuring will also be returning. He wrote, “THE CONJURING 4. Here you go. We’ve been slowly and carefully crafting away on this. We didn’t want to rush this until we’ve got something that is worthwhile. And I’m really excited and encouraged with the direction David is working on. Even more excited to have @verafarmiga and @thereelpatrickwilson back!”
The duo has appeared in all three installments as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorrain Warren, with their most recent appearance being 2021’s The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, which grossed $206.4 million on a budget of $39 million. The Conjuring franchise follows the activities of real-life figures Ed, who died in 2006, and his wife Lorraine Warren, who are often hired by clients to get rid of evil spirits terrorizing their lives. There have been eight movies in the franchise with a combined gross of $2.1 billion on a measly budget of $178 million. Apart from the three The Conjuring films, there have been three other spin-offs Annabelle, The Nun, and The Curse of La Llorona. By the way, The Conjuring 4 is not the only film in development. The studio is also reportedly working on two other films, The Crooked Man and The Nun 2, in the series. According to the screenwriter Johnson-McGoldrick, the secret of the Conjuring movies is the bond between the lead characters, Ed and Lorrain Warren. In his words, “One of the things that was really important to me when writing this script was that Ed and Lorraine never fight. I think that one of the things people like about them is that they have this fantasy relationship that we all want.” Apart from The Conjuring, Johnson-McGoldrick has penned several other successful films. The writer the 2009 horror film Orphan for Warner Bros. and followed that with a romantic horror, Red Riding Hood, in 2011. He also wrote 2012’s action fantasy Wrath of the Titans and co-wrote The Conjuring 2 with Chad Hayes, Carey W. Hayes, and James Wan in 2016. Johnson-McGoldrick is also partly responsible for Aquaman’s script in 2018 as well as that of the upcoming sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, scheduled for a December 2023 release. New Line Cinema is yet to confirm a director for The Conjuring 4. However, Michael Chaves, who directed the third installment of the franchise and is currently working on The Nun 2, may be tapped for the role once again.
