James Wan’s The Conjuring wasn’t the first horror movie to be inspired by true events, but the effectiveness of that 2013 movie helped solidify paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren’s place in pop culture. The franchise has earned eight movies to date and taken in more than $2 billion at the global box office, confirming how The Conjuring has set the contemporary standard of supernatural terror in cinema. The Conjuring: Last Rites is set to be the final adventure for Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine, but the expansive potential of the Warrens’ investigations means we might not be through with this franchise entirely. Still, ahead of the release of Last Rites on September 5th, the figures responsible for the series looked back on the series’ legacy and what the future might hold.
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When asked by ComicBook about what she hopes the legacy of The Conjuring will be, Farmiga explained, “I think it’s my Lorraine, it’s his Ed, and what they represent together. Major love goals, these two. And how love banishes fear. That’s very simple, the spiritual logline is the message and is what is most impactful. It’s just that very simple, that’s what I think audiences have fallen in love with and hanker for, this idea that love, that real love can survive the darkest forces. It’s been amazing portraying that tenderness and strength side by side with this dude over here.”
Wan directed the first two entries in the series and handed over directing duties to Michael Chaves for The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and Last Rites. Wan still serves as a producer, and looking back on that first installment, the filmmaker echoed the power of Wilson and Farmiga.
When asked what he would give if he could talk to himself on the set of the original Conjuring, the filmmaker admitted, “Just do what you do and don’t screw it up. I think we all, myself, the producers, the writers, the filmmakers, the studio, and obviously the cast, I think we all collectively just found the beating heart with the first movie. I think we did the right thing by leaning into the right things that were worthy of leaning into us. In the case of the first film, obviously, the scares, the horror aspect were very important to myself, but also what ultimately we found to be the backbone, the heart of the franchise is the relationship and the emotionality of Ed and Lorraine Warren, played incredibly by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson.”
He continued, “So if I were to go back to tell that James, it’s to keep focusing on those guys because they are what the fans keep coming back to. By the way, that was what I would tell Michael Chaves, the director: when in doubt, rely on Patrick and Vera.”
The next chapter in the franchise is described, “The Conjuring: Last Rites delivers another thrilling chapter of the iconic Conjuring cinematic universe, based on real events. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reunite for one last case as renowned, real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren in a powerful and spine-chilling addition to the global box office-breaking franchise.”
With multiple installments in The Conjuring series under his belt, Chaves was tasked with creating new ways to surprise audiences. Even though Last Rites delivers massive scares, the filmmaker made sure to stay true to firsthand experiences.
“It’s really organic in how it works. We started off with a great script by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and, through him writing it and when I came on board and was developing it, we were really engaged with the Smurl sisters,” Chaves detailed of his process. “All four of them were so generous with their time and just sharing their experience. Wherever possible, we would try and root the scares in things that they experienced or just part of the true story, because I think that there’s so much value in that. I think there’s value just in anchoring it in reality. I think it makes the movie unique because, usually, their experience is just as different than anyone else’s. I think, also, fans really love that, and so whenever possible, we would try and build the scares off of that.”
He continued, “The telephone gag, that scare was something I had been dying to do. I grew up with one of those telephones with the super-long cords and I always loved it, loved how it got tangled around things. I was just dying to get that in. I grew up in the ’80s, so I just thought, ‘Okay, we gotta do something with the telephone.’ So that was something I just shoehorned in. I was like, ‘I don’t know how it works, but we got a telephone scene.’”
Even if the movie is rooted in the real world, it still needs to be cinematic, as Chaves explained his approach to making the best movie he can while also paying respect to reality.
“I went to the Smurls really early on, and I just said, ‘What’s the most important thing?’ They’re very lovely, smart people. I was like, ‘We’re making a movie. There’s gonna be some things that … we’re obviously trying to also tell an end chapter for the Warrens. There’s gonna be a family story within it, but I really wanna do justice to you and your family and your experience. What’s the most important thing in making this movie?’” the director recalled. “They said there was a couple things that they shared and some of them were personal. One of the things that, ironically, there was a movie, The Haunted, which was based on a book and it was based on their experience. They were really frustrated with how that movie came out and how it portrayed their family, down to even the details of how their house looked. It was in a way that feels like, ‘Oh, it’s superficial. You’re making a movie. Your house is gonna be different.’ But I think just respecting those things was actually really important.”
He added, “I think, honestly, it’s amazing. We recreated the house exactly. When you look online and you see the movie, that is exactly the house. They were blown away. We even debated about putting the tree out front because the tree was removed. The case went on for almost a decade and the tree was there and then not there, and we were debating about it. I went to the Smurls and I said, ‘Should we put the tree there or not?’ And they were like, ‘You gotta put the tree there. That was so signature. That made the house signature.’ So, honestly, I was just always leaning on them. I think it was so important to just honor their story and be respectful in it, because they’ve been through a hard time … this chased them through their childhood. They’ve lived with this their entire life, so I think just doing it justice, doing it right, and telling their story right was so important.”
Despite this being the final chapter for the Ed and Lorraine, the movie also puts prominence on their daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson) and her boyfriend Tony (Ben Hardy), potentially signaling where the future of the series could go.
“I got the pleasure to meet Judy. I actually first originally had a FaceTime with her and I spoke to her for about an hour,” Tomlinson shared of her research into the role. “She was so generous and open about her life and childhood of being the daughter of the Warrens. She shared so many little gems with me — the humor of her dad, which we actually see in Patrick. They had these elaborate Halloween parties, which you could imagine, when you’re living in a town and they know you’re demonologists and you have these ghosts and ghouls hanging out for your house. It’s funny, they’re playing with that.”
The actor continued, “She gave me this mantra that I then carried with me throughout filming and with my character, which is ‘don’t look at it, don’t give it recognition.’ That was something that she used with the artifacts room with Annabelle, and it was something that I used with the character because, as Mia, I’m much more bubbly and open and I’m highly energetic, so I had to play somebody who managed to harness all of that energy, keep in the tension. I used that mantra to keep me grounded and honor Judy Warren in the film.”
As far as how this experience impacted Hardy personally and his views on the supernatural, the actor explained, “It’s made me more curious, I’d say. I’d seen The Conjuring movies, but I wasn’t aware of the behind the scenes, the various stories that happened over the years. I think hearing from people you know and respect, or getting to know and respect … hearing someone like Patrick talk about the bruises on Joey King in the first one and hearing Vera talk about, on this movie, about getting bruises in the shape of the cross on her … I think I’m such a, maybe more of a cynical person, so I need to actually fully see it to believe it. I need to have it happen to me to fully believe, but I’m definitely, I’m open-minded about it, more so now than I was before the film.”
Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema have yet to declare what the next development in the franchise will be, but Chaves isn’t ruling out a return.
“I’m getting ready to jump into another movie right now, and I’m so excited to try something different,” the director pointed out. “At the same time, I love this series. I’ve loved being a part of it. If The Conjuring phone called, I would totally pick it up. I think it was definitely, with this movie, it was designed to be a final chapter. It was designed to be the end. This is a series that’s done so well with its spinoffs and going into other characters, so I think that there could totally be a life in that respect. But I love this series. I’ve loved being a part of it, and I would totally be open to other incarnations.”
The Conjuring: Last Rites lands in theaters on September 5th.
Are you looking forward to the new The Conjuring? Let us know in the comments below!
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