Annabelle Comes Home Director Weighs in on Those New Demons Getting Their Own Spinoffs

In the case of most horror franchises, the heroes or villains that connect with audiences are seen in repeated adventures, leading a series’ continuation to be relegated to formulaic repetitions of a core concept. The joy of The Conjuring franchise is that each film, as well as each spinoff film, introduces new demonic presences, which sometimes earn their own film franchises. The latest chapter in the series, Annabelle Comes Home, introduces audiences to new demonic presences like The Ferryman, The Bride, and a werewolf creature, leading audiences to wonder if they’ll each get their own series. Writer/director Gary Dauberman isn’t opposed to the idea, but notes that they weren’t included merely to get their own spinoff films.

“Well, I hope they’re potential movies, but we’re really not going into this thinking of the business of it and going, ‘Oh, this could be a cool spinoff,’” Dauberman shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “[Franchise creator] James [Wan] and I might go, ‘Omigod, we’d love to tell more of this story,’ but we’re not putting it specifically in there, hoping it’s going to be a spinoff. Something I pride myself on, and I know the others do as well, is that we’re not looking at any of these movies as a launchpad for the next movie. We’re hoping the audience responds in a way that we can tell further stories, but it’s not the reason why this movie exists.”

He added, “The reason the Ferryman exists isn’t because we go, ‘That could make for a great spinoff,’ although I think it could. The reason why it’s there is because I thought it could be a really cool scare, and it’s something that fit with the Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman) backstory I had early on. So, it was organic to her character, not because I think it’s going to be cool for the universe, first and foremost. Although I think that’s the case, it’s not the reason why we put those things in there.”

In Annabelle Comes Home, determined to keep Annabelle from wreaking more havoc, demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren bring the possessed doll to the locked artifacts room in their home, placing her “safely” behind sacred glass and enlisting a priest’s holy blessing. But an unholy night of horror awaits as Annabelle awakens the evil spirits in the room, who all set their sights on a new target—the Warrens’ ten-year-old daughter, Judy, and her friends.

Annabelle Comes Home is in theaters now.

Would you like to see any of the new demons get their own films? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!