James Wan is officially stepping away from the director’s chair for The Conjuring 3, but there’s no time to be sad about it: the film has already found his replacement in the form of Michael Chaves (The Curse Of La Llorona), according to THR.
This will be the first The Conjuring film not to be helmed by Wan, but he will remain involved as a producer for New Line.
Wan seems to have a lot of faith in Chaves: Wan and his Atomic Monster execs discovered him through his horror short The Maiden, which in turn led to his directorial debut The Curse Of La Llorona, which New Line is set to open in cinemas in April next year.
In a statement, Wan said: “While working closely with Chaves on The Curse of La Llorona, I got to know him as a filmmaker. Chaves’ ability to bring emotion to a story, and his understanding of mood and scares, make him a perfect fit to direct the next Conjuring film.”
“I am a huge fan of the Conjuring films,” added Chaves. “The movies are the rare combination that delivers both tremendous heart and awesome scares. It is both a total thrill and absolute honour to be working with James and the gang at New Line again.”
The Conjuring 2 writer David Leslie Johnson is returning to pen the script for the threequel, which will continue to focus on married paranormal investigating team Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga respectively).
The Conjuring 3 doesn’t yet have a release date. Get all the latest horror news with every issue of SciFiNow.