While The Nun isn’t exactly garnering rave reviews at the moment, the horror spinoff’s at least bringing The Conjuring universe to new commercial heights, suggesting that there’ll be quite a few horror fans out there keenly awaiting news on next year’s Annabelle 3.
The directorial debut of It scribe Gary Dauberman, the third installment in the demonic doll’s spinoff series will be a return to American soil in the wake The Nun’s excursion to Europe, with Dauberman telling /Film that the next Annabelle brings “the franchise back home after being so far away in Romania.”
Moreover, Dauberman confirms that the film is “set in the Warrens’ house,” referring to married couple Lorraine and Ed Warren, who’ve been central to the franchise since 2013’s The Conjuring. In what was pitched as the Night at the Museum of horror movies, Annabelle 3 will reportedly see the titular demonic doll cause trouble in the Warrens’ artifact room, doing her worst with all the cursed objects on display in the chamber.
For another unexpected comparison, Dauberman likened this set-up to the planned DC series Swamp Thing, saying:
“It’s what happens when Annabelle comes into the artifact room. Much like Swamp Thing, what happens when Annabelle comes into the artifact room and how she affects her environment.”
The filmmaker further explained that Annabelle “really awakens the evil within that room and [the evil targets] the Warrens’ 10-year-old daughter, Judy.” While it hasn’t been confirmed yet whether Judy’s parents, played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, will be making an appearance, Dauberman’s told /Film that production will begin on Annabelle 3 some time in mid-October, meaning you can expect some key updates in the next couple of months. After that, the as-of-yet untitled film will be hitting cinemas on July 3rd, 2019.