Director Michael Chaves explained why The Curse of La Llorona is not technically a part of Warner Bros.' The Conjuring universe. La Llorona marked Chaves' feature directorial debut after several shorts, including the Shriekfest award-winning The Maiden. Starring Linda Cardellini and Raymond Cruz, the film centered on Anna Tate-Garcia, a Los Angeles social worker, police widow, and mother of two as she finds herself and her children targeted by the titular malevolent spirit.
James Wan's Conjuring universe began with the eponymous 2013 outing and has spawned several spin-offs and sequels. The franchise's primary focus is Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson's Ed and Lorraine Warren, two of America's most prominent paranormal investigators, and some of their more iconic yet controversial cases. The other big focus for the franchise has been its Annabelle series centered on the titular haunted doll. While one other spin-off was produced for the universe, it appears one was never intended to be considered as such.
In an interview with Dread Central for the latest installment in the mainline franchise, The Devil Made Me Do It, Chaves was asked to settle the debate of whether his La Llorona film is indeed part of the Conjuring universe or not. Though explaining the slight nod it included to Wan's series and the story behind it, the director confirmed it is not considered part of that universe, bringing its film count back down to seven instead of eight. Read what Chaves revealed below:
“The very simple reason [why La Llorona] isn’t [part of The Conjuring Universe is because] it was made without one of the [Conjuring franchise] producers, so technically it can not be fully embraced. That’s the very simple reason. Originally, there was only supposed to be a playful nod [to The Conjuring franchise in La Llorona], by putting The Father in and having the Annabelle flash. But it wasn’t supposed to be marketed that way. The plan was, you would get into it, and then it’s like, ‘Oh my God, they’re connected!’ We weren’t, from the beginning, supposed to be doing that. And that’s why it has this outsider status. But as [the character] La Llorona is an outsider herself, I think it fits. It’s a tricky situation, I don’t want to give away any trade secrets. The idea was just to have a playful connection [to The Conjuring] because the myth of La Llorona can stand on its own. But James [Wan] was on as a producer, the conversation got started about an Easter Egg. It just kind of got away from itself. People loved that connection. But The Conjuring franchise is created by a team that’s been there since the beginning. It’s not really right to do an official spinoff without the full team. When we premiered it in Austin, it was mistakenly announced as ‘The next chapter in The Conjuring universe,' which sent waves of panic all the way through New Line. We didn’t want anyone to be offended. It was supposed to be just a wink and a nod. Not like we’re trying to steal your mojo or your brand.”
Chaves' explanation for the lack of a proper connection between the film and the larger Conjuring universe is both an understandable and fairly wholesome one. Of course, with advertising having promoted it as such and most audiences and critics at this point already chalking it up as part of the series, it would be just as easy to go along with the belief and call it a day. But for Chaves to remain firm that because the whole Conjuring team wasn't a part of La Llorona, it isn't franchise canon, is admirable, and indicates good in-studio synergy.
It's also not the first time something with connections to a larger franchise is put into question. For example, Netflix's entire roster of Marvel series has been generally considered part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, between references to "the incident" from The Avengers and the superhero team themselves. Still, because no characters from the big or small screens have made their way to either world as of yet, it's a point of debate as to whether they are canon. Though Father Perez does show up in The Curse of La Llorona and a reference is made to his time in Annabelle, his lack of appearance in any other film in The Conjuring universe does make Chaves' argument against its canon connection well-founded.
Source: Dread Central