The creators of the Conjuring franchise, Chad and Carey Hayes, have announced their next project: a planned franchise based on famous haunted mansions including LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans. They will team up with the newly established company Faster Horse Pictures, which was established by Cindy Bond and Doug McKay earlier this year.
The Hayes brothers are responsible for bringing the massively successful Conjuring franchise to life when they wrote the screenplay for the first film. Since then, they have only written the 2016 sequel. Even as they took a step back, the franchise has soared to new heights. In addition to the main Conjuring films, the franchise includes spin-offs like the Annabelle films and The Nun. A planned third Conjuring movie is set for release next year. The franchise as a whole has grossed $1.9 billion globally.
Per Deadline, the Hayes brothers' new franchise will begin with a film about the famous LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans. Said to be one of the most notorious haunted houses in the world, it once housed Madame LaLaurie, a New Orleans socialite in the early 1800s who murdered many slaves. After a house fire exposed her crimes, she fled the city. She was featured in the third season of American Horror Story and was played by Kathy Bates. Since 1932, no public access to her house has been granted, though it is still a popular tourist attraction. For this project, the filmmakers have been given access to the house through Faster Horse's partner Michael Whalen, who currently owns it. The Hayes brothers are considering writing the screenplay within the house and also intend to shoot on-site.
McKay and Bond shared statements about their collaboration with the Hayes brothers, with McKay saying, "The LaLaurie Mansion is as scary a place as there is in the world and we won’t hold back in giving audiences the full effect. Chad and Carey will have their hands full, but they are true masters in cinematic retellings of disturbing material." Bond added, "Building a horror franchise starts with the IP, and for us to be able to tap the LaLaurie Mansion, and its twisted history, is a major coup for Faster Horse." No release window has been given, as the project is still in the early development stages.
Horror films based on true stories hold an extra layer of fright because fans can't pretend everything they are seeing is completely fake. The stories hold a bit of truth to them; someone actually lived through these nightmares. The premise for the LaLaurie film is already chilling, and in the right hands will be absolutely terrifying to see play out. The Hayes brothers have proven their skill at crafting haunting, mostly true tales, as anyone who has seen The Conjuring knows. It will be interesting to see how they tackle a brand new franchise-starter, and whether it holds any similarities to the Conjuring films, which are also centered on haunted houses. There are bound to be a few similarities between the two franchises, but hopefully, the LaLaurie mansion story will be able to stand on its own.
Source: Deadline