EXCLUSIVE: Horror fans will be happy. Another Conjuring is on its way, and David Leslie Johnson (Dungeons and Dragons, The Conjuring 2) has been tapped by New Line Cinema to write a third installment of the horror franchise. This comes after the first two grossed $638.3M worldwide collectively.
The Conjuring 3 is expected to bring writer-producer-director James Wan back into the fold but likely not in the same capacity. Wan directed the first Conjuring (which still holds the record as the biggest opening weekend for a non-sequel horror pic at $41.8M). Wan also directed, co-wrote produced the second in what has become a lucrative franchise.
This time around, expect Wan to serve as producer through his Atomic Monster production company with Peter Safran, who is also in the wings to return as producer. Wan, however, is unlikely to direct the third installment.
Screenwriter Johnson is well-known to genre fans, having scripted The Conjuring 2, horror film Orphan and the reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Johnson also just worked with Wan and Safran on a rewrite of their superhero film Aquaman, which stars Jason Momoa, Nicole Kidman and Amber Heard. The DC property is at Warner Bros, and we hear he is still helping on that when need be.
The logline for the third installment of the popular Conjuring fan-chiseis under wraps but will also be based on another of the real-life case files of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.
The Conjuring 3 marks the seventh film in the growing Conjuring universe following its first two incarnations plus Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation, The Nun and The Crooked Man (which is currently in development).
Johnson’s other credits include Denise DiNovi’s directorial debut Unforgettable as well as Wrath of the Titans, Red Riding Hood and also a few episodes of The Walking Dead, for which he is still a consulting producer.
He is repped by Paradigm and attorney Howard Abramson at Behr Abramson Levy.
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