Michael Chaves says that the 2019 film was only intended as "a wink and a nod" to the franchise.
Published: Saturday, 12 June 2021 at 0:36 pm
Since the first The Conjuring film was released back in 2013, it has spawned a huge franchise – with a total of eight films all taking place in a shared universe.
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But according to Michael Chaves –who directed the most recent instalment, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It – one of those films shouldn't really be counted as part of the main franchise.
Chaves said that 2019 film The Curse of La Llorona, which he also directed, was never intended to be included in the series, instead just serving as "a wink and a nod" to the other films.
Speaking to Dread Central, he explained that the very simple reason it couldn't be "fully embraced" was that it was made without one of the usual The Conjuring producers.
"Originally, there was only supposed to be a playful nod, by putting The Father in and having the Annabelle flash," he said. "But it wasn’t supposed to be marketed that way. The plan was, you would get into it, and then it’s like, 'Oh my God, they’re connected!'
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"We weren’t, from the beginning, supposed to be doing that. And that’s why it has this outsider status. But as [the character] La Llorona is an outsider herself, I think it fits."
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He added, "The idea was just to have a playful connection... But James [Wan] was on as a producer, the conversation got started about an Easter Egg. It just kind of got away from itself. People loved that connection.
"But The Conjuring franchise is created by a team that’s been there since the beginning. It’s not really right to do an official spinoff without the full team."
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And he said that the studio was originally not very happy when it was first marketed as a part of The Conjuring franchise before its debut at SXSW festival.
"When we premiered it, it was mistakenly announced as 'The next chapter in The Conjuring universe', which sent waves of panic all the way through New Line," he said. "We didn’t want anyone to be offended. It was supposed to be just a wink and a nod."
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The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is currently showing in UK cinemas. Check out our dedicated Movies page for more, or visit our full TV Guide.
