The Conjuring 3 Release Date, Cast And Story

The Conjuring hit theaters the summer of 2013, one of a handful of horror films in a box office season ruled by action (R.I.P.D., Red 2, and The Wolverine were all released the same month). With a modest budget of $20 million, the "based-on-a-true-story" movie directed by Insidious' James Wan managed to defy expectations, bringing in nearly $42 million its opening weekend alone. 

The Conjuring was the first film in what would become a vast, interconnected horror universe that includes includes spin-offs like The Nun, The Curse of La Llarona, and the hugely successful Annabelle movies. It's also highly regarded by critics — both The Conjuring and 2016's The Conjuring 2 boast strong "fresh" ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Now, the third Conjuring film is on its way. While the The Conjuring 3 won't arrive in theaters until September of 2020, there's plenty of information out there to help appease fans until it does. Let's take a look at what we know so far.

Obviously, since The Conjuring 3 is a direct continuation of the original film, we can expect for it to center on Ed and Lorraine Warren, played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, respectively. Aside from the two leads, however, no other major roles have been confirmed. According to the film's IMDb page, newcomers include Westworld's Ronnie Gene Blevins, who's been cast as a character named Bruno, and Stranger Things' David Michael-Smith, who'll play a Danvers detective. 

Although David Leslie Johnson, who co-wrote The Conjuring 2, has returned as 3's writer, neither Chad Hayes nor Carey W. Hayes — credited writers on the first two films — seem to be coming back for this one. James Wan is attached as a producer (as he is with all the Conjuring universe films), but unlike the previous two flagship films, he will not be in the director's chair.  He's been pretty busy of late, after all — as he told Entertainment Weekly in 2017, "I just don't think it's realistic with my schedule... I'm going to be on Aquaman for a year-and-a-half. I just don't see that as a reality."

While the exact details surrounding The Conjuring 3's plot remain under wraps, producer Peter Safran has confirmed the sequel will have an entirely new setting. He told JoBlo in 2017, "Clearly, we can't do another haunted house movie, right? We can't do another supernatural possession in a house, with a family in peril."

As of 2019, there are two Warren cases that are the most likely contenders for the film. In 2018, Vera Farmiga spoke with Metro and said she was given a book called Werewolf, which could serve as the basis for the movie. "I could be wrong. They could be scrapping it," she said. "But the last I heard it has something to do with some werewolf case." On the other hand, from what James Wan told Bloody Disgusting at the end of 2018, the story could go a completely different direction. "It's this guy who was on trial for committing a murder," he said. "I think it's the first time in America's history where the defendant used possessions as a reason, as an excuse."

The second possible basis for The Conjuring 3's story — and the more likely of the two — is the "Devil Made Me Do It" case, which centered on 19-year-old Arne Cheyenne Johnson, who in 1981 stabbed and killed his landlord, Alan Bono, during an argument. Johnson's defense was that he had been possessed by a demon while helping with the exorcism of his girlfriend's 12-year-old brother.

Ed and Lorraine Warren were called in initially to help the younger brother, but came to Johnson's defense when he was charged with Bono's murder. In a 1981 New York Times article, Lorraine Warren said Johnson had challenged the Devil to take him on. "He would actually say, 'Come into me — leave the little lad alone.'" 

When Johnson's story failed to sway a jury, he was ultimately convicted of first-degree manslaughter. Not only does this case seem to match Wan's hints about the third film's plot, but the fact that it took place in 1981 fits better within the Conjuring timeline than the 1989 Bill Ramsey exorcism.

The Conjuring 3 will mark the eighth entry in the Conjuring universe. Although Ed and Lorraine Warren haven't appeared in every one of the films, each takes inspiration from their real-life case files and adds to their cinematic mythology. Of course, the various spin-offs have not been released in the chronological order of the narrative, so the timeline can be a little confusing.

While The Conjuring was the first film to be made in the series, it's actually the fourth to happen chronologically. 2018's The Nun flashes back to 1952, 2017's Annabelle: Creation takes place in 1955, and 2014's Annabelle brings us to 1967. Both of the 2019 entries, Annabelle Comes Home (1972) and The Curse of La Llorona (1973), are set between the two primary Conjuring movies. It's also worth noting that La Llorona is also the only film in the franchise that isn't directly connected to the Warrens themselves.

We may not yet have the first trailer for The Conjuring 3, but that doesn't mean its filmmakers are holding everything back. On Michael Chaves' personal website, the director has linked supporting materials related to his work, including trailers and posters. Under the heading for The Conjuring 3, Chaves has posted the first teaser image for the film, along with the Ed Warren quote, "Diabolical forces are formidable. These forces are eternal, and they exist today. The fairy tale is true. The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges upon which one we elect to follow."

The image itself doesn't give much away — a farmhouse, a church, the woods. Honestly, it could have been pulled from either one of the previous Conjuring films. But between its lack of people and its tintype feel, the image does portray an overall sense of creepiness that we're hoping the film will live up to.