Summary

• The Conjuring: Last Rites is the next chapter in the successful horror franchise, following the adventures of paranormal experts Ed and Lorraine Warren.
• The connection between The Conjuring: Last Rites and The Nun II was teased by director Michael Chaves, revealing early on that there'd be connections between the two films.
• The release date for The Conjuring: Last Rites is unknown, but it is expected to take a similar amount of time as previous films in the franchise. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga will reprise their roles as the Warrens.

The Conjuring is one of the most successful modern horror franchises and will continue with The Conjuring: Last Rites, and there's been plenty of The Conjuring 4 teases around what's in store for Ed and Lorraine Warren next. The Conjuring series follows the adventures of Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga), a married pair of real-life paranormal experts and demonologists. The Conjuring films are extreme embellishments of their various cases throughout the 1970s and 1980s, alongside spinoffs that throw plenty of fictionalized elements in too, and The Conjuring: Last Rites is the next chapter in one of the most lore-heavy paranormal franchises in cinema.

The Conjuring 4 will be arriving after multiple spin-offs utilizing cases that aren't explored in the main Conjuring movies, such as the Annabelle franchise and movies like The Nun and The Curse of La Llorona. With 2023's The Nun II proving the franchise is just as chilling as ever, there's intense speculation about what's in store for the next mainline The Conjuring movie. There are plenty of other Ed and Lorraine Warren cases begging to get the big-screen treatment, and it'll be intriguing to see which one the Conjurverse chooses to pick up next.

Related: The Conjuring Movies & Spinoffs Ranked, Worst To Best

The Latest Conjuring 4 News

Director Michael Chavez Teases The Conjuring: Last Rites And Nun 2 Connections

The most recent news on The Conjuring 4 arrived on September 8, 2023, shortly after the release of The Nun II. Director Michael Chaves gave an update on The Conjuring: Last Rites, and what the post-credits scene of the sequel to The Nun meant for the next movie in The Conjuring franchise. In an interview with Slashfilm Chaves spoke a little on the connections between The Conjuring 4 and the end of The Nun II, although also disclosed that the script and final story of the fourth Conjuring movie are still in development:

I think that they're still writing it. They're still working on it. There's definitely "Conjuring: Last Rites" is coming. And in terms of the exorcism of Maurice, that's always been a center, a cornerstone marker in the timeline and I think it's up to interpretation. It's also, I think there's a lot of things that need to align, so it could go a couple different ways. As an audience member, I would 100% see [a crossover of all Conjuring demons]. I couldn't give away what I know about what's being developed, but I know that they're going to end with a bang. I know that there is a great finale being planned for "Last Rites" and as to what or who's in it ... I don't want to give away any spoilers.

The Conjuring: Last Rites Is Confirmed

The Conjuring 4 Is Happening

In October 2022 Conjuring franchise creator James Wan officially confirmed that The Conjuring 4 was on the way. New Line Cinema is currently preparing production for the upcoming new Conjuring movie, and it will be written by The Conjuring 2 and 3 writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. James Wan and Peter Safran will return to co-produce The Conjuring: Last Rites.

James Wan has hinted that The Conjuring 4 may be the end of the franchise. Speaking in an interview (via Collider), Wan mentioned that part of the reason he's been so considerate with the next installments in The Conjuring franchise is that he and his team "take our time to make sure we get it right and to make sure the emotion of the Warren stories that we want to tell, and moving into, and potentially wrapping up, we just want to make sure that it's the right thing, the right story that we're telling.” While there's nothing confirmed yet, it could be that The Conjuring 4 is the final chapter in James Wan's epic horror saga.

However, that doesn't mean The Conjuring 4 will be the last story that is told. Reportedly, a Conjuring TV show is in development at HBO Max (now just Max), and it will continue the story where the movies leave off. Not much else is known about The Conjuring TV show outside of its announcement on April 12th, 2023, but the television series aims to continue where the movies leave off.

Related: Every Upcoming & Rumored Conjuring Movie (What's Next For The Conjurverse?)

The Conjuring: Last Rites Cast

Who Is In The Conjuring 4?

Only two members have been confirmed thus far for The Conjuring 4 cast, and that's Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren and Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren. The only other Conjuring cast member that could return for the upcoming installment could be their daughter, Judy Warren. However, the actress who plays her is up in the air. Judy Warren was initially played by Sterling Jerins in The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2.

That being said, the actress was recast for Annabelle Comes Home and was portrayed by McKenna Grace. The cast of The Conjuring 4 will see an entirely new set of characters, as the Warrens pick up another supernatural case. The Conjuring Universe has proven to be one of the more successful examples of a cinematic universe outside of Marvel or DC. Warner Bros no doubt sees it as a continuously lucrative franchise, and thus the new The Conjuring sequel, The Conjuring: Last Rites, is officially on the way.

Related: The Conjuring: Last Rites Cast & Character Guide - The Warrens Return For Part 4

The Conjuring: Last Rites Story Details

What Happens In The Conjuring 4?

As for the new Conjuring movie storyline, nothing so far is known. With The Devil Made Me Do It ending in 1981, it's expected that The Conjuring: Last Rites story movie would take place sometime during the 1980s. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga would return as Ed and Lorraine Warren and the Warrens had plenty of cases during the decade that could serve as the basis for the next film's story. In 1986, they had a case that later went on to loosely inspire the 2009 film The Haunting in Connecticut, so the producers may try to avoid the Warrens' more famous cases in order to keep the series fresh.

One case they could use is the terrifying story of the Smurl haunting, which the Warrens investigated in 1986. Either way, the fact that a new The Conjuring TV series is in the works suggests that The Conjuring 4 story could end on an ambiguous note. When The Conjuring TV show was announced, it was reported that the series would continue the storyline of the movies. Since The Conjuring movies generally follow a linear chronological timeline, it's likely that the series will pick up after Arne Cheyenne Johnson's trial in 1981, which was the main story of The Conjuring 3.

Some minor story teases for The Conjuring 4 came in the post-credits scene of The Nun II. The scene at the end of the sequel to The Nun showed the return of Ed and Lorraine Warren to the franchise. While the scene is brief and doesn't establish any plot specifics, it is a clear set-up for The Conjuring: Last Rites and the next entry in the Conjurverse after The Nun II.