I don't know about you, but I find it quite remarkable as to how much James Wan's THE CONJURING franchise has grown over the past few years. The cinematic sequel snowball-effect of Wan's THE CONJURING began with the success of the first two films, which then led to the prequel spinoff ANNABELLE. Now, the creepy-doll-come-to-life horror has its own follow-up film on the way with ANNABELLE: CREATION hitting theaters on August 11th. Beyond that, THE CONJURING has an additional spinoff in the works with Demian Bichir starring in THE NUN. New Line has set that film for a July 13, 2018 release. Finally, it's been announced today that yet another spinoff is coming that aims to feature THE CONJURING 2's spine-tingling Crooked Man character as its supernatural antagonist.
With regard to THE CROOKED MAN, Mike Van Waes has been asked to pen the script based off of story ideas by James Wan. THE CROOKED MAN character made his first appearence in THE CONJURING 2, which starred Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Lorraine and Ed Warren, a pair of real-life paranormal researchers who help rid people's homes of unwated entities and malicious mischief. The Crooked Man himself is based on an English nursery rhyme: "There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile. /He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. /He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse. /And they all lived together in a little crooked house." It's a passage that has given me the creeps for as long as I can remember. Honestly, there's a lot of darkness hidden beneath the surface of many nursery rhymes. In fact, several of them reference violent historical acts that I'm not permitted to write about here. You'll just have to take my word for it, or do some research, if you choose.
In other Van Waes-related news, the scribe will also be teaming with New Line for an original horror pitch set in the world of THE WIZARD OF OZ. You can expect to hear more news about that and THE CROOKED MAN project as the pieces fall into place. For now, be sure to check out ANNABELLE: CREATION when it scares the shit out of moviegoers on August 11th.