Last spring, New Line announced plans to move forward with a third installment in their horror franchise, Annabelle, which takes place in their developing Conjuring cinematic universe. Gary Dauberman, who has written all 3 Annabelle films, will be stepping in to direct the newest installment, which will see Patick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return to their roles as supernatural investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.
James Wan, who has produced both of the Annabelle films, and Dauberman have both revealed some preliminary details about the film, with Wan referring to it as “Night at the Museum with Annabelle.” Dauberman went on to explain that the film will find Annabelle, who is stored in the Warren’s artifact room, bringing other artifacts to life to target the Warren’s young daughter, Judy (many fans will remember the music box popping open and playing as The Conjuring came to its conclusion). While that sounds terrifying enough, we’ve come across some additional details that are going to add to the suspense.
Judy, you may remember, had a run in with the evil entity Bathsheba, at the end of 2013’s The Conjuring and it seems that the evil entity is not done with her yet. When Judy was first attacked, her father, Ed, was able to save her; unfortunately for Judy, Ed and Lorraine may not be so helpful this time around. We’ve learned that the plot for the upcoming Annabelle 3 centers around Judy being left home with a pair of babysitters, taking the Warrens and their vast experience, out of the picture. Teenage babysitters Mary Ellen Jones and Denise Fuller took a bad job, as explained by the film’s logline: Mary Ellen and her friend Denise spend a quiet evening babysitting Judy until their encounter with the Annabelle doll causes the evening to take a dark turn. It sounds very much like Dauberman has chosen to revisit a common 80’s horror movie trope with Annabelle 3, but by setting it in the Warren’s museum of horror, given it a very different twist.
Annabelle 3 will begin filming in Los Angeles this October and is currently casting for Mary Ellen, Denise and Judy. The film is expected to release sometime in the summer of 2019.
