The Haunted: The Conjuring producer Tony DeRosa-Grund is starting a new franchise

The Conjuring producer Tony DeRosa-Grund wrote the initial story for The Conjuring, provided the film with its name, and created a road map for the franchise – and yet he hasn’t worked on any of the sequels or spin-offs that have followed. Now Cinedigm has announced that they’re teaming up with DeRosa-Grund to develop a new paranormal horror film called The Haunted, which they’re hoping will spawn another franchise on the level of the Conjuring movies.

The Haunted is said to be “based on verifiable events”. Story details are being kept under wraps, but Cinedigm did reveal that the first film in this hopefully-franchise-to-be begins with one family’s dark and terrifying real-life preternatural experiences which intersect with historical facts and legends surrounding a young pregnant woman accused by her own father of being a witch. That convergence places the family in impending mortal danger.

A press release confirms that the plan is to build up The Haunted universe “through sequels, historical prequels, and spin-offs. The franchise’s initial focus will be on the real events experienced by a multi-generational family under siege from malevolent, and extremely violent, supernatural forces. The Haunted also focuses on its extremely rare circumstances which occurred when the living persons involved suffered significant, and repeated, real physical harm – even a death – from these dark forces that plagued them. The fact that these events could happen to anyone, combined with the ‘you can run but you can’t hide’ aspect of the family’s very real plight, plumbs new depths of the horror genre.“

Tom Owen, the managing director of Cinedigm and Bloody Disgusting, provided the following statement: “We are thrilled to be collaborating with Tony DeRosa-Grund, a modern master of the horror genre, on The Haunted franchise. Based on the true-life events, these films will take audiences on a wild and terrifying journey into the world of the paranormal, unlike any other ever seen before in film. We are confident The Haunted, will set a new bar for horror movies and will absolutely resonate with horror enthusiasts, as well as every other audience quadrant.“

DeRosa-Grund added: “Having created, produced and written the story for the original The Conjuring, I can say, with absolute clarity and certainty, that The Haunted is exponentially better, truer and more terrifying. I am truly excited to be working with Tom and Brad [of Cinedigm/Bloody Disgusting] who ‘got it,’ and embraced the project right from our very first pitch meeting. I want to also thank Cinedigm Chairman Chris McGurk, who not only backed my very first feature film, but also convinced me to come out of my retirement for this project.“

The script for the first entry in the Haunted franchise is already in place, having been written by DeRosa-Grund. Cinedigm and Bloody Disgusting are planning to get a director attached to the project soon, with filming to take place later this year. DeRosa-Grund is producing the film through the Nverse Pictures banner.

Are you excited to hear that the producer of The Conjuring is building a new franchise? Share your thoughts on The Haunted and these franchise plans by leaving a comment below.