HBO Max Theatrical The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

[Malcolm R]

Title: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

Tagline: The demonic case that shocked America.

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Director: Michael Chaves

Cast: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ruairi O'Connor, John Noble, Sarah Catherine Hook, Julian Hilliard, Charlene Amoia, Steve Coulter, Megan Ashley Brown, Sterling Jerins, Andrea Andrade, Shannon Kook, Mitchell Hoog, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Ashley LeConte Campbell, Keith Arthur Bolden, Davis Osborne, Paul Wilson, Mark Rowe, Stella Doyle, Eugenie Bondurant, Ingrid Bisu, Stacy Johnson, Lindsay Ayliffe, Nicky Buggs, Rebecca Lines, Robert Walker Branchaud, Nicholas Massouh, Chris Greene, Kaleka, Fabio William

Release: 2021-05-26

Plot: Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren encounter what would become one of the most sensational cases from their files. The fight for the soul of a young boy 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.

The Conjuring 3 is coming (9/11/20) (EDIT: Now 6/4/21). With the successful launch of The Curse of La Llorona, director Michael Chaves moves on to the next Conjuring sequel.

https://ew.com/movies/2019/04/22/the-conjuring-3/

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

We had a black and white photo of an old New England church like that above the fireplace when I was growing up, and it always freaked me out as a kid for whatever reason.

 

[Malcolm R]

New trailer. In theaters and streaming on June 4:



.
Excited to see John Noble in the cast.

 

[Malcolm R]

Review from The Hollywood Reporter. Sounds like James Wan should have remained more hands-on.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/m...conjuring-the-devil-made-me-do-it-1234960695/

From Variety:

https://variety.com/2021/film/revie...eview-patrick-wilson-vera-farmiga-1234985235/

 

[Robert Crawford]

Going to the well too many times.

 

[Johnny Angell]

When I saw the title, I thought it was a retrospective on Flip Wilson.

 

[Tino]

When I saw the title, I thought it was a retrospective on Flip Wilson.

It truly is a stupid subtitle.

 

[Malcolm R]

I would have just stuck with The Conjuring 3. The second film had no subtitle.

Honestly, though, I'm not even really sure what "conjuring" has to do with anything in these films. It seems more related to magic and sleight of hand than the supernatural.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Final Trailer:

I would have just stuck with The Conjuring 3. The second film had no subtitle.

On the other hand, if this bombs and Wan's schedule opens up down the road, they can re-frame this as one of the spinoffs and make a new one the "real" Conjuring 3.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Just finished watching it on HBO Max. I would rank it behind the first two Conjuring movies directed by James Wan and Annabelle: Creation, but ahead of the other spinoffs within the Conjuring universe.

It really experiments with the formula of the franchise in some unexpected ways. Whereas the first two films were basically haunted house stories, with Perron family farmhouse and the Hodgson family home in Enfield being major characters in and of themselves, this movie is basically a detective movie -- only the mystery being solved is one that is supernatural in nature.

For the first time in the franchise, Ed and Lorraine Warren are unquestionably the main characters rather than supporting characters. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are as committed as ever in their roles, but it does detract a little something because it's hard to get too worried about the characters that the entire franchise is built around -- characters based on real people who both lived well into the 21st century.

The different structure also has an impact on the way suspense is deployed; whereas Wan would start slightly sinister and then steadily rachet up the tension and dread more and more over the course of the movie, Chaves instead relies on spikes of tension and suspense that ebb once the sequence is over.

The trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson is arguably the second most famous incident that the real Warrens were involved in, after the Amityville horror, so it locks them into 1981 as the year. That is a full decade after when the first movie was set, and four years after the second movie. It allows some new aesthetic elements and some new musical choices. It also points to just how long this franchise has been going; Sterling Jerins, who played Judy Warren in the first two movies before being recast for Annabelle Comes Home. Judy appears briefly in this movie as a UConn undergrad, and Jerins -- back for this one -- is plausible playing only a couple years older than her real age.

John Noble appears, playing the kind of character John Noble does best. Sarah Catherine Hook plays the sister of one victim and the fiance of another who becomes a de facto assistant to the Warrens and a surrogate for the audience who the Warrens can explain things to.

The fact that the real Warrens were almost certainly shysters, frauds, and publicity hounds doesn't take away from the cinematic mythology that Wan and his collaborators have constructed from their stories. Wilson and Farmiga continue to deliver the goods as the cinematic Warrens, and hopefully will continue to do so periodically for years to come.

 

[benbess]

This may seem off point, but I feel a bit queasy about a movie profiting off of a real life murder while blaming it on the "devil."

And a movie series that turns these "frauds" into heroes isn't my cup of tea.

I'd prefer to just have straight up horror that's made up and not saying or pretending that it's based on something "real."

 

[Robert Crawford]

What's funny is I grew up listening to the Warrens stories on local radio in Connecticut on WICC.

 

[Malcolm R]

Seems to be over-performing expectations, at least those of the-numbers.com

They predicted the weekend at a total of just over $12 million. The Friday estimate alone is nearly $10 million.

Not sure why they went so low with their prediction. This has been a very popular franchise. The first two films in the base franchise each opened to $40m+. If this opens to $25m-ish, it would seem roughly comparable given the current caps on box office with fewer theaters running on fewer days/showtimes and many continuing with limited capacity. Not to mention it can also be seen on HBO Max.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Not sure why they went so low with their prediction. This has been a very popular franchise. The first two films in the base franchise each opened to $40m+. If this opens to $25m-ish, it would seem roughly comparable given the current caps on box office with fewer theaters running on fewer days/showtimes and many continuing with limited capacity. Not to mention it can also be seen on HBO Max.

I think it's because the movie's available to stream on HBO Max for no extra cost.

 

[TravisR]

I think it's because the movie's available to stream on HBO Max for no extra cost.

Didn't most of the Conjuring-verse (god, that's stupid) movies fair pretty poorly at the box office? I'd figure the main characters could still draw an audience but maybe the industry thought the franchise was running out of gas due to the spin-offs.

 

[Tommy R]

Didn't most of the Conjuring-verse (god, that's stupid) movies fair pretty poorly at the box office? I'd figure the main characters could still draw an audience but maybe the industry thought the franchise was running out of gas due to the spin-offs.

According to Wikipedia, the 8 films have grossed $1.9B world wide (only $13M listed so far for the new one), and with a combined budget of $178.5M. Each film individually has pretty good numbers compared to the low budgets they have, kind of how the Saw movies keep on going.

 

[Malcolm R]

Didn't most of the Conjuring-verse (god, that's stupid) movies fair pretty poorly at the box office? I'd figure the main characters could still draw an audience but maybe the industry thought the franchise was running out of gas due to the spin-offs.

As Tommy noted, the franchise is hugely popular. The lowest worldwide gross of any of the films is $231 million (or if you count the very loosely connected La Llorona, $123 million).

The spinoff The Nun is the highest gross in the franchise at $365 million.

Highest budget for any of the films was The Conjuring 2 at $40 million. Most of the rest are around $20 million or under (The Conjuring 3 is listed at $39 million). The multiplier for the first Annabelle film was nearly 40x ($257 million gross vs. $6.5 million budget).

 

[TravisR]

Wow, I thought the spinoffs had done much worse than they actually did. I knew The Conjurings were big hits and Annabelle did well but I didn't think the others even cracked $30 million (though that's still a healthy return if the movie is inexpensive). And the Annabelle sequel made more than the first one?!

Learn something new each day.

 

[Malcolm R]

And the Annabelle sequel made more than the first one?!

It's a far better film. Probably fans' favorite of the franchise after the first two Conjuring films.

And despite the RT scores below, I also liked The Nun. Funny how the lowest critical rating translates to the highest box office.

 

[Tommy R]

I’m probably in the minority who liked the first Annabelle the best, though I DID like the sequels. The only one I have yet to see the that Llanorna one.