Annabelle Comes Home: The Conjuring Universe Explained - IGN (2024)

Every studio wants its own shared movie universe, but building the next Marvel Cinematic Universe is no simple task. It seems like the only other studio to really figure it out so far is New Line, thanks to the Conjuring franchise. What began as an unexpectedly successful haunted house movie has ballooned into a full-fledged series with multiple sequels and spinoffs (that includes The Nun and Annabelle) and a continuity all its own.As we gear up for more spinoffs like Annabelle Comes Home (read our review), now is probably a good time to brush up on your Conjuring -- and Annabelle! -- history and learn how all these horror movies tie together to form a shared universe.

Spoilers of course follow for all the films released to date!

The Conjuring Universe Explained: The Basics

The Conjuring Universe is a series of horror films centered around or connected to the exploits of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Technically, that makes these movies "inspired by true events," though many would obviously dispute the authenticity of those cases. Regardless, it's clear from the impressive critical and commercial success of the series that plenty of moviegoers are eager for more paranormal adventures.The main Conjuring series focuses on the Warrens as they investigate haunted houses and do their best to protect the families who live there. The original film also introduced Ed Warren's "artifact room," a place where the Warrens display cursed souvenirs from past cases. That room is basically the glue holding this shared universe together, as the various spinoff films like Annabelle use those souvenirs as springboards for new horror adventures. There's no single, driving storyline linking these films, but they all intersect as they tell the story of ordinary people confronting terrifying paranormal forces.

The Conjuring Universe Movies

To date there have been seven Conjuring universe films, including Annabelle Comes Home.
  • The Conjuring universe was born when the original The Conjuring hit theaters in 2013. That film is based on a 1971 case where the Warrens investigated a haunted farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island.
  • The series received its first spinoff the following year in the form of Annabelle. This prequel focused on the titular haunted doll first introduced in The Conjuring, ultimately leading directly into the events of the original film.
  • The Conjuring Universe continued with The Conjuring 2 in 2016. A direct sequel to the original, The Conjuring 2 jumped ahead to 1977 and adapted an infamous London haunting that's come to be known as "The Enfield Poltergeist." This sequel also introduced a demonic entity called Valak that's come to play a recurring role in the series.
  • The next big entry in the Conjuring series is Annabelle: Creation, a prequel to the first Annabelle set in the 1950s. Creation explores the true origin of the haunted doll (effectively retconning the events of Annabelle in the process). This film also spawned a contest where filmmakers were asked to craft a short movie in the spirit of the Conjuring Universe. The winner of that contest - Julian Terry's "The Nurse" - was officially made part of The Conjuring canon.
  • The Conjuring series expanded even further thanks to the feature spinoff version of The Nun (about the demon Valak from The Conjuring 2).
  • In 2019, The Curse of La Llorona was released. The film is a spinoff featuring the character Father Perez from Annabelle.
  • Annabelle Comes Home was also released in 2019, continuing the story of the fearsome titular doll.

The Conjuring Universe: Origin and Background

The Conjuring Universe isn't the first movie franchise to be built around the case files of Ed and Lorraine Warren. The duo are probably best known for their investigation of the Amityville haunting, a case that inspired the 1979 film The Amityville Horror and its numerous sequels and spinoffs. Decades before The Conjuring came to life, Ed Warren approached producer Tony DeRosa-Grund about turning another of their cases into a film. DeRosa-Grund wrote a screenplay based on Warren's audio tape recordings of the Harrisville, RI, incident, but progress stalled on the project for a number of years.

Writers Chad and Carey Haynes later refined DeRosa-Grund's original screenplay, including making the critical change that the film be centered around the Warrens themselves rather than the Perron family, the owners of the haunted house in Rhode Island. That change seemed to give The Conjuring the spark it needed, and the project finally landed at New Line Cinema in 2009. Saw series co-creator James Wan was hired to direct, while Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga were cast as Ed and Lorraine Warren, respectively.

The Conjuring wound up earning $318 million at the worldwide box office, enough to make it one of the most profitable horror films since The Blair Witch Project. Unsurprisingly, New Line immediately moved forward with sequels and spinoff projects, with Wan serving as a producer and general guiding force for the growing franchise. To date, the various films in the series have accumulated a total of over $1.2 billion at the global box office, with several new movies in various stages of development.

The Conjuring Universe: What's Next

Currently, New Line is several new additions to the Conjuring Universe.
Annabelle Comes Home: The Conjuring Universe Explained - IGN (1)
The newest release in the Conjuring franchise is Annabelle Comes Home, the third entry in the Annabelle spinoff series. This sequel will be the first Annabelle feature to star Wilson and Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren and will take place concurrently with the original film. The plot deals with the malevolent doll unleashing its power from inside the Warren household, threatening the lives of their child and her babysitters. Gary Dauberman directed the film.

An actual The Conjuring 3 is also in the works. Initially, Wan has speculated that the setting might shift to the 1980s and deal with werewolves. However, we now know that the film will focus on Ed and Lorraine Warren defending a man on trial for murder, struggling to prove he was possessed by a demon during the act. Wan will only produce this sequel, with The Curse of La Llorona's Michael Chaves taking over as director.

New Line is also moving forward with The Crooked Man, a spinoff featuring another supernatural entity introduced in The Conjuring 2. It's unknown exactly where this film will fall in the Conjuring timeline, but Mike Van Waes is penning a screenplay based on a story treatment by Wan, and the tone is reportedly more fairy tale-like than other films in the franchise.

Finally, The Nun 2 is in the early stages of development. Akela Cooper (Luke Cage) is writing the screenplay, with Peter Safran and James Wan producing.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

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Annabelle Comes Home: The Conjuring Universe Explained - IGN (2024)

FAQs

What was the point of Annabelle in The Conjuring? ›

Annabelle Comes Home explains, a little confusingly, that the doll itself is not actually possessed by evil, but is a conduit for evil. It's basically catnip for demons. It's demon-nip. Drop Annabelle into a room full of demons and shit's gonna get wild in a hurry.

How is Annabelle connected to The Conjuring House? ›

The through-line between the first two Annabelle films and The Conjuring is the doll itself. It first appeared at the start of The Conjuring when demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren were giving a lecture to college students about how they came into possession of the Annabelle doll.

Is Annabelle Comes Home part of The Conjuring? ›

It serves as a sequel to 2014's Annabelle and 2017's Annabelle: Creation, and as the sixth installment in The Conjuring Universe franchise. The film stars Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, and Katie Sarife, along with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, who reprise their roles as Ed and Lorraine Warren.

How does Annabelle fit into The Conjuring? ›

Annabelle is set a mere four years before The Conjuring and it follows Mia and John Form, two fresh parents who unfortunately come in contact with the doll who's eager for a human host. It's worth pointing out that Annabelle begins with the death of Annabelle Higgins, aka Janice from Annabelle: Creation.

How did the demon get into Annabelle? ›

The implication in Annabelle is that the ritual sacrifice made by Anabelle Higgins (by slitting her throat and letting her blood drip on the doll) caused the Ram demon to enter the doll, but the prequel makes it clear that the Ram demon was always inside of Janis/Annabelle and simply used the doll as a conduit again ...

Who is the main demon in Annabelle? ›

The History of Malthus The Annabelle Demon: The Conjuring

Even though Malthus is not often seen, he is the spirit in The Conjuring Universe who links to the scariest doll there. Though Malthus is the series antagonist, few fans actually know who he is, and only encounter his name once during the series.

Is Ed and Lorraine Warren in Annabelle Comes Home? ›

The trio is also reunited with Bob, who has survived the hellhound's attacks. The next morning, Ed and Lorraine returns and the trio tell them about their struggles.

Who gets possessed in Annabelle Comes Home? ›

Mary Ellen manages to get in and get the doll, but the two are attacked by a possessed Daniela. Judy turns on a video of her father exorcising a spirit to damage the Bride as she runs to the museum and attempts to put Annabelle back. However, she is attacked by Malthus, who begins to steal her soul.

How is Insidious connected to Annabelle? ›

It's a common question, but the answer is no, The Conjuring and Insidious franchises are not linked to each other. The only 'link' is James Wan, who directed both the first two Conjuring movies and the Insidious movies. Fun fact: Patrick Wilson starred in both the first two Insidious movies and The Conjuring movies.

How does the nun tie into Annabelle? ›

Sister Irene and Lorraine Warren are revealed to be part of the same bloodline, explaining why both characters are targeted by demons like Valak and Annabelle. The characters played by Taissa and Vera Farmiga are also related in the franchise.

How is La Llorona connected to Conjuring? ›

The Curse of La Llorona isn't actually a part of The Conjuring Universe despite its two Annabelle-related cameos, says director Michael Chaves. It only became known as the eighth installment in the hit horror franchise, apparently, because of a presenter's unfortunate misunderstanding at a film festival.

What Conjuring is the scariest? ›

The Conjuring (2013)

The movie that started it all remains the tightest, scariest, and most creative of the bunch. In their cinematic debut, the Warrens investigate a disturbing possession at a remote family home in Rhode Island.

Does The Conjuring tie into Annabelle? ›

Annabelle served both as an indirect prequel to The Conjuring and as the beginning of the spin-off series that follows the eponymous haunted doll. 2016's Annabelle: Creation was a direct prequel to Annabelle.

How are all The Conjuring movies connected? ›

Starting as a 1970s ghost series, based on the real life investigations of married paranormal snoops Lorraine and Ed Warren, The Conjuring Universe has sprawled into a franchise that not only keeps track of the Warrens' demon-busting adventures, but also delves further into the haunted backstories of these cases with ...

Do the Warrens appear in Annabelle? ›

The two reprised their roles again in Annabelle Comes Home, the sequel to Annabelle, and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It; they are also scheduled to reprise the roles in The Conjuring: Last Rites.

What does The Nun have to do with Annabelle? ›

Sister Irene from The Nun is a descendent of St. Lucy as is Lorraine from Annabelle. This family connection is why Valek wants both of these women dead.

What is the story behind Annabelle's creation? ›

Twelve years after the tragic death of their little girl, a doll-maker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, where they become the target of the doll-maker's possessed creation, Annabelle.

What did the real Annabelle doll do? ›

Since her first supposed haunting in 1970, this allegedly evil doll has been blamed for demonic possession, a slew of violent attacks, and at least two near-death experiences. In recent years, the true stories of Annabelle have even inspired a series of horror films.

What is the message of The Conjuring movie? ›

The Conjuring tells us to put our faith in God, family, or both and offers a more accurate account of what it takes to traverse the darker times in life.

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