Warner Bros. has announced that The Conjuring 2 is set for release on October 23rd, 2015, giving it a prime Halloween slot. Alongside that news, Variety reports that both Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson will return as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Soon after the first movie topped the box office a sequel was announced, but it’s only now that things have started properly coming together. Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes, who wrote the original horror/thriller, have been hard at work coming up with the sequel script. While the first film followed a haunting at a farmhouse, the sequel will look at another case the real-life Warrens investigated.
At the moment it’s not known if James Wan will return to direct.
There’s also a spin-off been announced, which will be a prequel telling the story of the creepy doll that featured in the movie. That film is likely to be out this October, although that’s yet to be confirmed.
After a couple of quiet weeks, there was a bit of a crush of new movies at the US box office this weekend, and heading into the weekend nobody was entirely certain which would end up on top. In the end it was the Matt Damon sci-fi Elysium, which took $30 million to top the chart. That’s a passable start, although not as much as the $35 million plus Sony had been hoping for.
Early last week many had expected The Smurfs 2 to take the top spot this weekend at the US box office, but in the end it had to settle for the number three spot. Topping the list was 2 Guns, with the Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington action flick taking a solid but unspectacular $27.3 million. Many have suggested that the fact the marketing concentrated on the stars and said little about the story may have held the film back.
The Wolverine has taken the US box office crown with a $55 million opening. While that’s not a bad take, and certainly better than recent disappointments such as The Lone Ranger and Pacific Rim, it’s still being seen as rather soft, as most had expected it to take $60 million plus.
Last week a sequel to The Conjuring was announced, which suggested Warner Bros had an inkling it would do well. They were right, as the James Wan directed horror movie, which cost just $20 million to make, grossed $41 million in its first three days in cinemas to top the US box office.
The Conjuring isn’t due in US cinemas until Friday (and August 2nd in the UK), but New Line Cinema must have a lot of confidence in it, as they’re already putting plans in place for a sequel, according to 