The Conjuring 4 is officially in the works with The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick returning along with producing duo James Wan and Peter Safran, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed today. Johnson-McGoldrick is a franchise favorite and frequent Wan collaborator having penned the script for the second and third Conjuring films as well as Wan's upcoming DCEU sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom which also features The Conjuring star Patrick Wilson alongside Jason Momoa.
In an Instagram post about the news, Wan confirmed that Wilson and his Conjuring universe counterpart, Vera Farmiga, will both return for the new sequel. The pair have starred as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren in four movies within Wan's Conjuring universe, which has spawned a total of eight films. Most recently, Wilson and Farmiga reprised their roles as the Warrens last summer in 2021's The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, which pushed the franchise's total gross to over $2.1 billion dollars. With the films having a combined budget of only $178 million, The Conjuring has become the highest-grossing horror franchise to date and of the most successful franchises in modern media.
The Devil Made Me Do It was directed by Michael Chaves, who is currently at work helming another Conjuring universe spin-off with The Nun 2, which just entered production in France earlier this month. Though no director has been confirmed yet for The Conjuring 4 it's possible Chaves could take up the mantle once more.
Johnson-McGoldrick's history of horror writing dates back to 2009's unsettling thriller Orphan, which also features a standout performance from Farmiga. The writer also returned to pen the prequel Orphan: First Kill earlier this year. Though no plot details have been revealed yet about the next Conjuring movie, the series draws upon the real-life cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren, so Johnson-McGoldrick has thousands of files worth of source material to pull from for inspiration.
The true secret sauce of the Conjuring films is the undeniable chemistry and unbreakable partnership between Wilson and Farmiga's Ed and Lorraine. During a watch party for the third film, Johnson-McGoldrick tweeted: "One of the things that was really important to me when writing this script was that Ed and Lorraine never fight. I think that one of the things people like about them is that they have this fantasy relationship that we all want." So if there's anyone we trust to keep bringing these characters back for more spooky adventures, it's him.
The Conjuring 4 does not yet have a release date but stay tuned at Collider for further updates. In the meantime, check out our interview with Wilson and Farmiga following The Devil Made Me Do It down below.