Nearly five years after the entity last haunted the screen, the first The Nun 2 footage has arrived at this year's CinemaCon. The upcoming horror movie acts as a sequel to 2018's The Nun, itself a prequel to the entire Conjuring Universe centered on a Catholic priest and novitiate investigating a series of deaths at a Romanian monastery, which holds a dark secret tied to the eponymous demon. Though scoring the franchise's worst reviews, The Nun did see its biggest box office haul with over $365 million grossed against its $22 million production budget.
As part of the studio's CinemaCon 2023 panel, of which Screen Rant was in attendance, Warner Bros. showed off the first The Nun 2 footage. The video, not released online, offered the first look at the upcoming Conjuring Universe sequel, including the return of such characters as Taissa Farmiga's Sister Irene and the introduction of Storm Reid's unnamed character. Check out the footage description below:
The Nun 2 footage shown during WB's panel featured a young girl in Romania sent to clean a church, only to be bullied by a bunch of girls attempting to scare her by forcing her to stare at a stained glass window. After leaving her alone in the dark, she seems The Nun emerge behind her, but her attempt to escape the church fales as the mean girls have locked her in. The footage then shifts into the trailer, which reveals the plot to be about a wave of killings taking place and The Vatican believing the titular demon to be responsible, and as such send the now fully-ordained nun Sister Irene to face her once again. The Nun 2 footage highlights far more stylish production design than the first film, potentially indicating a bigger budget than its predecessor.
The studio also indicated having big plans for how the sequel will carry on The Conjuring Universe. Farmiga and Reid were in attendance of the panel, with the former teasing Irene's sense of duty in stopping Valak while the latter discussed making her franchise debut and joking she isn't a fan of horror movies. The two also discussed their experience filming in a real abandoned church in France, with Farmiga revealing she get frightened easily.
What The Nun 2 Footage Description Says About The Conjuring Universe Sequel
Prior to the footage description, details for The Nun 2 were largely being kept under wraps, save for the return of Taissa Farmiga's Sister Irene, Bonnie Aarons' titular demon and Jonas Bloquet's Frenchie, the latter of whom was confirmed in a BTS photo by Wan. A casting call did indicate a story akin to the one shown in the footage description above, with Irene hired to investigate the murder of a priest committed by Valak that results in a further spreading of evil, which looks to be multiple deaths.
Though The Nun 2 footage description doesn't feature his character, it seems likely that Frenchie's return will play a major part in said killings, considering the first movie ended with the reveal he had fallen under Valak's possession some 20 years before his attempted exorcism from the Warrens. However, since The Nun is seen in her own personification in the footage, it would be interesting to see whether Frenchie is committing the murders, or if she jumps across multiple bodies before coming back to him.
The tease that WB is looking for The Nun 2 to carry on The Conjuring Universe also proves an enticing one considering the panel also featured the announcement of The Conjuring 4's subtitle, Last Rites, seemingly confirming plans for it to be the last mainline movie. With Farmiga's Sister Irene being established as a formidable foe for the demonic akin to her real sister's character, Lorraine Warren, it would be interesting to see if she gets spun off into facing other entities, or if the spinoff sets up other demonic foes.
