THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT Will Be a "Completely Different Movie"
I’m a sucker for horror movies. I love ‘em and The Conjuring franchise has been a favorite of mine in recent years. James Wan has been doing some great things with this franchise, and while he’s not coming back to direct the third one, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, he will have a heavy influence on the development of it.
This next movie is being directed by Michael Chaves (The Curse of La Llorona) and along with a different director comes a different kind of Conjuring movie. In fact, according to screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, this next film will be a “completely different movie than the first two.” Here’s what he shared on Twitter:
I think that it’s great that the franchise is expanding beyond the haunted house formula! It’s good to change things up and do something fresh and different, and this movie is going to tell one hell of a crazy and interesting story.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It will tell the “chilling story of terror, murder and unknown evil that shocked even experienced real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. One of the most sensational cases from their files, it starts with a fight for the soul of a young boy, then takes them beyond anything they’d ever seen before, to mark the first time in U.S. history that a murder suspect would claim demonic possession as a defense.”
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga will return to star as Ed and Lorraine Warren, and they will be joined by Ruairi O’Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Julian Hilliard.
If you’re not familiar with the real story that this film is based on, the story revolves around Arne Cheyenne Johnson. On November 24th, 1981, in Brookfield, Connecticut, Arne Cheyenne Johnson was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for the killing of his landlord, Alan Bono. This is the first court case in the United States in which the defense sought to prove innocence based upon the defendant's claim of demonic possession and denial of personal responsibility for the crime. Here are some additional details from Wiki:
According to testimony by the Glatzel family, 11-year-old David Glatzel had allegedly played host to the demon that forced Johnson to kill Bono. After witnessing a number of increasingly ominous occurrences involving David, the family, exhausted and terrified, decided to enlist the aid of self-described demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (noted for their investigation into the famed Amityville Haunting) in a last-ditch effort to "cure" David. The Glatzel family, along with the Warrens, then proceeded to have David exorcised by a number of Catholic priests. The process continued for several days, concluding when, according to those present, a demon fled the child's body and took up residence within Johnson. Several months later, Johnson killed his landlord during a heated conversation. His defense lawyer argued in court that he was possessed, but the judge ruled that such a defense could never be proven and was therefore infeasible in a court of law. Johnson was subsequently convicted, though he only served five years of a 10- to 20-year sentence.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It will open in theaters on September 11, 2020.