If you watched The Conjuring, there's this doll that might have caught your attention and scared you a bit. Now, the Conjuring 2 is set to take on the big screen and guess what, this spinoff film will revolve around hat doll, Annabelle!
According to Screenrant, the sequel almost never happened due to a lawsuit filed against Warner Bros. The suit alleged that Warners failed to improperly compensate Evergreen Media Studios, the company through which the contents of Ed and Lorraine Warren's case files were licensed for use in The Conjuring. While the dispute has yet to be solved, it appears that Warner Bros. still plans to go full steam ahead with both films, lawsuit pending or not.
An insider gave a few details:
"The Annabelle-related spin-off film has officially been titled Annabelle and will, as previously reported, be released October 3, 2014. This will put Annabelle in direct theatrical competition with the David Fincher directed mystery Gone Girl and the Reese Witherspoon fronted Oscar-bait drama The Good Lie."
It was also reported that the film's budget is only $20 million, The Conjuring was one of the most successful films of 2013, garnering over $300 million worldwide. With that in mind, it's not hard to see why Warner is confident to create a sequel and make it as a movie franchise despite legal issues. At the end of the day, this is Hollywood, this conflict will likely end up in an arrangement that will make both parties richer.
Conjuring stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are not expected to return in Annabelle, although they are set to return for The Conjuring 2. Leading Annabelle's cast are Alfre Woodard (True Blood), Annabelle Wallis (The Tudors), Ward Horton (The Wolf of Wall Street), and Brian Howe (Justified).
Plot details for Annabelle remain unknown, but considering that Warner Bros. greenlit the spinoff only a few months after The Conjuring was released, it's doubtful that the studio is worried about getting a return on this investment. Will this film join Chucky as one of the scariest possessed dolls in Hollywood?
Annabelle will be released to theaters on October 3, 2014.
