Though it has received mixed reviews, The Conjuring franchise has been a massive commercial success, having earned a combined $2.2 billion for all eight movies against their combined budget of $208 million. This makes the entire IP the highest-grossing horror franchise to date, and while we can argue indefinitely that modern horror has exchanged its dread for jump-scares and a quick buck at the box office, the recipe seems to be working. In the end, the math doesn’t lie, and the sheer success of the aforementioned franchise attests to the fact.
The first two Conjuring movies were met with positive reviews from the critics and fans of the horror genre, earning praise for its main cast performances, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, who portrayed Ed and Lorraine Warren, respectively. The third movie, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, didn’t receive the same amount of love, but the critics acknowledged the outstanding performances given by Wilson and Farmiga once again. However, the now-iconic duo hasn’t appeared in any of the spin-offs, except for a brief appearance in 2019’s Annabelle Comes Home. That is, until now.
The first behind-the-scenes photos from the fourth Conjuring film, unofficially titled The Conjuring: Last Rites, have been shared online, and they feature Wilson and Farmiga reprising their roles as the aforementioned paranormal experts Ed and Lorraine. Admittedly, we don’t know what the fourth film will be about, but we know that the filming has started in the UK, ahead of its release in cinemas next September, and that it will likely mark the final outing for its protagonists.
This also means that nobody but those involved knows which of the real-life Warrens’ cases The Conjuring 4 has picked for Ed and Lorraine’s final outing on the silver screen. The first movie, released in 2013, marked the first appearance of Ed and Lorraine in the franchise, introducing them as paranormal investigators dealing with the malevolent spirit haunting the Perron family in Rhode Island back in 1971. They didn’t appear in 2014’s Annabelle, though they were briefly mentioned in the movie.
The second mainline The Conjuring movie (2016) was set in 1977 and focused on the Warrens as they traveled to London to investigate the infamous Enfield Poltergeist case, in which a single mother and her children were being tormented by a malevolent spirit, the demon known as Valak, the antagonist of 2018’s The Nun. Afterward, they made a short appearance in the third Annabelle movie before the release of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, released in 2021.
That particular movie followed the Warrens as they investigated the real-life case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson. This is known as the first legal case (the “devil made me do it” case) in the United States in which the defense sought to prove innocence by claiming demonic possession and denial of personal responsibility for the gruesome crime. It’s the weakest of the three mainline movies, but the performances of Farmiga and Wilson kept the audiences invested. However, this doesn’t actually tell us much about the upcoming narrative and how Ed and Lorraine might return. Â Â
Two things could happen: The fourth movie could pick up from the style and structure set by the third film — which admittedly features one of the scariest opening scenes of the entire franchise — or it might tie up the entire franchise by dealing with one of its major antagonists. The former is the likeliest to happen, as all three mainline installments focus on the real-life cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren, so the chances are that The Conjuring 4 might follow the same formula. Why tinker with a working money-making recipe, right?
Some of their later cases also include the Smurl family haunting that took place between 1974 and 1989 and reportedly included several spirits and a violent demon. They later described as one of the most dangerous hauntings they had ever encountered. Their casebook also includes the haunting at Union Cemetery, which is known as one of the most haunted places in America, famous for two apparitions: the White Lady and Red Eyes.
However, the ending of The Nun II implies that Valak might not be entirely gone, leaving the door open for future encounters. The movie also contains a mid-credit scene in which Ed and Lorraine are being told of something that appears to lead to Maurice’s exorcism of Valak, which could set the stage for the narrative that would finally bring a definitive end to the ancient demon that has been tormenting people throughout history.
Unfortunately, nothing official has been disclosed regarding the narrative of the upcoming movie, so everything mentioned above still resides in the realm of speculation. We know that the fourth mainline installment has been described as the final mainline release, so it would seem that the franchise is closing its book on Ed and Lorraine Warren, giving them a proper ending within this long-running horror franchise. The Conjuring 4 is currently scheduled for a September 2025 release.