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‘Annabelle: Creation’: The Horror News Network Review

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The first Annabelle film, a spin-off from the critically and financially successful The Conjuring, is an interesting case study.  Like its source material, the first Annabelle film raked in the dough, with $84 million domestically and an unbelievable $257 million worldwide (I guess creepy dolls is the second international language).  Unlike the Conjuring however, the film took a beating on Rotten Tomatoes (finishing up with a score of 29%) and while fans showed up in droves initially, the audience quickly tailed off in the States, and the negative buzz did not bode well for a sequel to the film. In spite of this, Annabelle: Creation is a surprisingly entertaining film that has much more in common with first Conjuring film than its predecessor or last year’s sequel to the Conjuring. read more

James Wan Provides Updates on Upcoming Films in ‘The Conjuring’ Universe

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Entertainment Weekly recently discussed James Wan’s upcoming films with him, and much of the conversation centered around his ever-growing “Conjuring Universe” including Annabelle: Creation, The Nun, The Crooked Man, and of course, The Conjuring 3.

Wan praised the directors attached to the Conjuring spin-offs and called David F. Sandberg (Annabelle: Creation) and Corin Hardy (The Nun) “…really young, hungry, upcoming filmmakers, full of passion for the genre” and that they “…remind me of what I was when I started with Saw. That’s the kind of filmmakers I would love to continue to foster through Atomic Monster.”  When discussing the upcoming The Nun, Wan described Corin as “…a monster movie-nut”, which bodes well for the film among genre fans. read more

‘Annabelle: Creation’ Director David F. Sandberg: The Horror News Network Interview

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The original Conjuring spin-off Annabelle was a massive world-wide financial success (earning over $256,000,000), but was less successful with critics and fans.  When the inevitable sequel was announced, most discerning horror fans were not very interested, until director David F. Sandberg came on board the project.  Sandberg impressed many horror fans with his debut feature Lights Out which became one of the sleeper hits of the summer movie season of 2016, and it looks as if history will repeat itself this summer on August 11th when Annabelle: Creation is released.  David took some time from a busy promotional schedule to talk to us about his current film, what he learned from Lights Out, and his upcoming DC Universe film Shazam (scheduled for a 2019 release.) read more

“The Conjuring 3” Gets a Writer; also Brings Back James Wan

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As reported by Deadline, New Line Cinema has hired David Leslie Johnson to write the third installment of the hugely popular Conjuring series. Also reportedly back is James Wan, who directed the first two films. James is expected to leave the directing to someone else this time around and will just be a producer.

David Leslie Johnson should be no stranger to horror fans as he co-wrote The Conjuring 2 and also wrote 2009’s Orphan and a few episodes of a little-known show called The Walking Dead. Wan and Johnson just finished working together on the upcoming DC Comics film Aquaman which Wan is directing and Johnson was brought in to help re-write. read more

‘Saw: Legacy’ Undergoes Last Minute Name Change

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I hope nobody out there got “Saw: Legacy” tattoos in a fit of rabid anticipation of the film’s upcoming release this Halloween… it has a new title!

The folks behind the iconic franchise recently took to Twitter to announce the name change and reinforce its release date of October 27th, 2017:

The name change is likely Lionsgate’s way of showing audiences that the eighth entry in the franchise will focus heavily on Tobin Bell’s Jigsaw, the original villain of the series whose role was continuously reduced in later installments due to the studio regrettably killing him off too soon. read more

Conjuring Two Spin-Off The Crooked Man is Coming Soon

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Warner Brothers/New Line shows no sign of slowing down when it comes to spinning off horror movies from their successful Conjuring franchise.

Next up: the slender, I mean Crooked Man!

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news today stating that “Mike Van Waes has been hired to pen the script from a story by James Wan, who serves as the chief architect of the Conjuring universe.” Van Waes has been on a winning streak of late and is “…reuniting with New Line, which previously scooped up his pitch for an original horror film set in the world of The Wizard of Oz. Van Waes has been on a roll when it comes to selling pitches and scripts over the past 15 months: His Black List spec Hammerspace is at Warner Bros., and he sold a book proposal called Peeves to Harper Collins, which was picked up by Fox Animation through Temple Hill.” read more

James Wan to Produce ‘Resident Evil’ Movie Reboot, Greg Russo to Write Script

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Just days after announcing their plans for rebooting the Resident Evil movie franchise (and a week after Resident Evil: The Final Chapter hit blu-ray!), Constantin Film has announced some of the talent attached to the new project. Deadline reports that James Wan has signed on to produce the film, and Greg Russo will write the script.

James Wan is currently shooting the upcoming Aquaman film, but he is better known to horror fans for his work on Saw, the Insidious franchise, and The Conjuring franchise. In addition to serving as a producer on Resident Evil, Wan is attached to the following projects as a producer: Mortal Kombat, Annabelle: Creation, Saw: Legacy, Insidious: Chapter 4, and The Nun. That sure is a lot of producing! read more

Taissa Farmiga Cast as The Nun in The Conjuring Spinoff, The Nun

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News on The Nun, the highly anticipated new spinoff movie based upon the creepy character first featured in The Conjuring 2, is coming in fast! Earlier this month, we learned that Oscar-nominated actor Demian Bichir is set to star in the film. Now, Deadline reports that Taissa Farmiga is set to play the young nun herself in the film!

There’s no one out there more qualified to play the nun in The Nun. Taissa Farmiga’s horror credits include American Horror Story and The Final Girls. Better yet, she is the little sister of Vera Farmiga, who plays Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring films! This creepy coincidence wasn’t lost on franchise creator and director, James Wan, who had this to say about the development on Twitter: read more

Insidious: Chapter 4 Delayed Until January 2018

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Unfortunately, Insidious fans are going to have to spend a little more time in The Further, waiting for Chapter 4 to hit theaters! Variety reports that the film has been pushed back from its planned October 20th, 2017 released date to make way for Universal Pictures’ and Sony Pictures’ “darkly comic” murder mystery, Half to Death. Apparently, the studios felt that moviegoers wouldn’t want to see two horror films during the Halloween season! Both films come from Blumhouse, hot off its massive success with Get Out. read more

Lionsgate Acquires James Wan’s and Alexandre Aja’s New Thriller, Smart House

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James Wan’s Saw and Alexandre Aja’s High Tension are two horror films which helped solidify Lionsgate as one of the premiere providers of edgy and intense new material in the early 2000’s, so it’s no wonder that the studio would be eager to work with these two filmmakers again on new material. That opportunity will soon be realized with today’s announcement that Lionsgate has acquired the rights to a new thriller entitled Smart House. Variety reports that the film is based on an original idea of James Wan, who will produce the film. Alexandre Aja will direct.  read more