Patrick Wilson Claims The Conjuring 3 Will Be a "Different Beast" for the Franchise

Actor Patrick Wilson has a number of impressive genre credits to his name, though many fans know him best as Ed Warren from The Conjuring franchise, and, while fans are excited to see Wilson reprise the role for the upcoming The Conjuring 3, the actor teases that the series will go in an all-new direction. Details about the narrative are relatively unknown, with each previous film being based on real-life case files from paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, but one major difference is that Michael Chaves will be directing the film, with James Wan having helmed the first two installments.

"The process [of making Conjuring 3] was fantastic, and it's a much different feel," Wilson revealed to The Hollywood Reporter. "It's still the same bones; it's still very much Ed and Lorraine. Again, we are pushing our characters to places they haven't gone, but the film will be a really nice addition because it's definitely a different beast. Pun intended."

The first Conjuring film debuted in 2013 and its successes have led the franchise to become a dominating force in the horror world over the past decade. Not only did the film already earn a sequel, but it inspired spinoff films, which have also earned their own prequels and sequels. Fans have been waiting since 2016 to see Wilson reprise his role alongside Vera Farmiga's Lorraine, with this year's Annabelle Comes Home seeing the characters' return to the franchise.

"I do love playing this character, I really do," Farmiga admitted to Entertainment Weekly. "To be honest with you, in this climate of dissension and rancor and division, I love exhibiting [Ed and Lorraine's] unity and their closeness and their togetherness. It's something special for me."

Also this year, fans saw The Curse of La Llorona, a supernatural story about the titular supernatural character. Unbeknownst to audiences, this film featuring a surprise connection to the Conjuring mythology.

"There was a lot of discussion about it," Chavez shared with GameSpot about connecting the film to The Conjuring. "Father Perez does make a reference to other people who work for the church. There is actually a scene that was going to be at the end of the movie where at the very end of the film we shot Linda's [Cardellini] character, who hands over the necklace to Raymond [Cruz's character], you know, for safekeeping. And Raymond says that he knows someone who can keep it safe and that they're on the East Coast and they handle this sort of thing."

As opposed to films like Annabelle and The Nun, which explicitly shares evil entities with ones we've seen in The Conjuring, The Curse of La Llorona merely features one character appear for a second time, confirming the shared universe. Chaves thought the inclusion of the above scene would feel too forced to establish that connection.

"The scene was really cool and I think everybody really liked it," the director noted. "But we felt like it was too heavy-handed, like just trying to lay in all these connections to [The Conjuring]. We definitely had a lot of fun with it, everyone involved, we are all fans of the Conjuring universe, and of course we had James Wan as a producer. We were just like kids in a candy store trying to make all these connections."

Stay tuned for details on the future of The Conjuring series.

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