Explaining – The Conjuring

We're all aware of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe, even the Stephen King shared universe (and to a lesser extent The Dark Universe, which isn't working out quite so well last we heard).

But bubbling along in the background is another potentially massive shared universe that so far is doing a great job of making a lot of money from a series of relatively low-budget titles.So what's it all about? Here's everything you need to know about the expanded horror franchise The Conjuring Universe, and how it'll be taking horror cinema by storm.

The Conjuring Universe: James Wan, the man behind the scares
James Wan The Conjuring 2The first Conjuring movie was something of a surprise hit in 2013. It's directed by James Wan who made a massive success of the Saw franchise (which just had an eighth movie) and the Insidious franchise (about to get a fourth), and who has more recently shifted over to massive blockbusters, directing Fast and Furious 7 and currently working on Aquaman for DC.

The Conjuring Universe is his baby and while he's only directed the two Conjuring movies, he's producer on the two Annabelle movies and a writer and producer on the upcoming Conjuring spin-offs The Nun and The Crooked Man, all of which will be made by New Line for Warner Bros.

Wan even says he'd be up for bringing all the characters together in an Avengers-style mash-up movie.

"If I could pull off an Avengers of the Conjuring universe, I would love for that to happen," he said. "We'll see. It could be fun."
The conjuring features real-life paranormal investigators Ed (played by Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (played by Vera Farmiga) who are looking into a supposed haunting at the Perron family household in the early '70s.The movie took an impressive $318m worldwide from a budget of just $20m and was critically loved too. Wan followed up with a sequel in 2016, The Conjuring 2, which featured Ed and Lorraine investigating the Enfield Haunting – a case of an apparent poltergeist manifestation in North London in 1977. Again it was a storming success, taking $320m from $40m.

A third Conjuring movie is currently in development and is rumoured to feature Ed and Lorraine investigating a new case in the '80s. It's unlikely to be directed by Wan, though he'll still produce.

There's plenty of material to work with, which is part of the genius of the expanded universe (and makes us wonder why no one's done this before quite honestly). Ed and Lorraine's files include loads of notable cases that are as yet untapped (assuming Warner doesn't get into any legal trouble based on the fact that ghosts aren't real).
Most famously The Amityville Horror case (which has already inspired several movies) was one of theirs, though it's unlikely this'll be a focus of a standalone, partly because the story has been tapped several times before, most recently in Amityville: The Awakening. But also the Amityville case has already been referenced in the Conjuring universe – at the start of The Conjuring 2 we see Ed and Lorraine closing the case in the attic of the iconic house.