(PCM) Yesterday, Comingsoon.net reported that Warner Bros. Pictures had pushed back the release date for The Conjuring 2, the sequel to 2013’s horror hit, from October 23, 2015 to an unspecified date in 2016.
To the joy of horror fans everywhere, Deadline announced today that the delay is due to New Line Cinema finalizing a deal with The Conjuring director James Wan.
The delay will allow for Wan to promote his upcoming film, Fast & Furious 7, in theaters April 2, 2015 after also having its release pushed back from the summer of 2014 due to the tragic and untimely death of star Paul Walker.
James Wan, writer-director of Saw, director of Insidious, will return to direct the sequel to the horrifying 2013 supernatural thriller. The Conjuring scared audiences and critics alike, earning a certified fresh rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times praised The Conjuring, saying, “The dread gathers and surges while the blood scarcely trickles in “The Conjuring,” a fantastically effective haunted-house movie.”
New Line president/COO Toby Emmerich told Deadline: “We had a great experience with James on The Conjuring, and we give him a lot of credit for that movie working so well. He worked on the screenplay and came to the table with very inventive things that were not in the script and cast it fantastically well. Add to that his work in producing Annabelle, and he is one of the masters of the genre and we’re happy to have him. You go through the list of possible directors of The Conjuring sequel, and his is the name you stop at, which is why we tried so hard to make this work.”
Both Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson will reprise their roles as Lorraine and Ed Warren in the sequel, written by twin brother Carey and Chad Hayes (House of Wax, The Conjuring).
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