Producer Claims 'The Conjuring 3' Could Begin Shooting Next Year

The fifth film in The Conjuring franchise, The Nun, just dominated the box office in its opening weekend, leaving fans to wonder when a sequel in the original narrative could come to fruition. One producer thinks The Conjuring 3 could begin shooting as early as next year.

"It's actually coming along great. David Lindsay Johnson is working on the screenplay, and I feel pretty confident they will have that one up and running next year," producer Peter Safran shared with CinemaBlend.

The series kicked off with the release of The Conjuring in 2013, terrifying audiences around the world on its way to earning nearly $320 million worldwide. Having been inspired by the case files of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, the initial film was merely the tip of the iceberg when it came to creepy case files, allowing the film to mimic the success of superhero shared universes and develop spinoffs.

In 2014, Annabelle, based on a reportedly possessed doll featured in The Conjuring, earned nearly $260 million worldwide, demonstrating the effectiveness of the burgeoning franchise of connected horror films. The Conjuring 2 also inspired a spinoff, which hit theaters this weekend in the form of The Nun. The franchise is as popular as ever, with The Nun scoring the biggest opening weekend totals of the franchise yet, taking in $54 million domestically.

A third film in the Annabelle series is slated to hit theaters next summer, leading audiences to wonder about the fate of the initial narrative, though Safran's comments hint that we won't have to wait much longer to see the continued adventures of the Warrens.

Another rumored spin-off from the original series is a film based on the Crooked Man, who was introduced in The Conjuring 2. According to the performer behind the character, Javier Botet, plans are still in place to bring that film to life.

"There's no updates. The last update was a few months ago, they were speaking about what was going to be the next movie," Botet shared with ComicBook.com. "But I think they were speaking about doing the third part of Annabelle. But since we were shooting The Conjuring 2, the producers told me that they had the plan, and they expect in the future we will be going to do the Crooked Man spin-off. The last year we've been speaking and they still have the intention and the screenplay is being done. I think they are changing, but the project exists, but there's no new updates."

The Nun is in theaters now. Annabelle 3 hits theaters on July 3, 2019.

Do you think the studio should get back on track to make more Conjuring films or more spinoffs? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T CinemaBlend]