The folks in THE CONJURING follow-ups may have more trouble on their hands than just supernatural entities. They may not see the light of day at all.
According to an article in The Hollywood Reporter, Tony DeRosa-Grund’s Evergreen Media Group, which licensed rights to the first film, filed a lawsuit to stop the release of THE CONJURING 2. This is related to bad blood on both sides which dates back to last year, when the two squared off in court over CONJURING trademarking rights.
Per THR’s article: Evergreen Media held rights over the case files of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorrain Warren before licensing a movie version to Warner Bros. The licensor then made a second deal with Lionsgate for a Conjuring TV series, which prompted a battle over the prospect of an entertainment property with the same title. The dispute was first handled by the U.S. Trademark Office before moving to arbitration to consider the question of whether an “option quitclaim agreement” signed four years ago reserved for Evergreen Media the rights for a TV series.
Evergreen’s lawsuit claims WB is seeking to “reap all of the profits from The Conjuring while denying their financial obligations” by “failing to pay for the underlying rights and stealing those rights to make additional films, both theatrical films covered by the agreements as well as direct-to-video films that are not covered by the agreements…”
Without getting into all the legal ramifications (which make my eyes glaze over), this could be a kick in the sack to both THE CONJURING spin-off ANNABELLE (or Untitled New Line Horror Film), which is due to come out this October, and THE CONJURING 2, which is being released on October 23, 2015. Whether or not this case holds any water remains to be seen; it’s entirely possible nothing comes of this. But, as THR notes, the fate of the sequels is now in the hands of a Texas judge. We’ll update you on his decision when it comes in…
Vera Farmiga