The next film in 'The Conjuring' universe will be a sequel to period horror flick 'The Nun'

Back in 2018, The Conjuring horror universe revealed its second spinoff subfranchise with The Nun, a terrifying horror story set in Romania revolving around a demon named Valak. Now, Valak's coming back for more. Bloody Disgusting reports that during Warner Bros. Pictures' presentation at CinemaCon Tuesday, amid teasers for various upcoming projects, the studio dropped a title card teaser for The Nun 2 into its sizzle reel, confirming the next film in the world of The Conjuring for eager scary movie fans. 

We don't yet know exactly when we'll see the film, or who'll be involved creatively, but it's no surprise this is an avenue Warner Bros. wants to keep exploring. Believe it or not, The Nun is the highest-grossing installment in the Conjuring franchise to date, with more than $360 million worldwide in a horror universe that has a combined box office of more than $2 billion. Plus, rumblings of a sequel date back to shortly after the film's release, and in 2019 Malignant and Luke Cage writer Akela Cooper was drafted to pen a script for the follow-up film. There's no word from Warner Bros. yet on whether or not Cooper is still involved, but the inclusion in CinemaCon suggests we'll know more about The Nun 2 sooner rather than later.

Set in 1952, The Nun is currently the oldest film in the Conjuring continuity (beating Annabelle: Creation by three years), and follows a priest and a novice nun as they travel to Romania to investigate an apparent possession. What they find there is the vicious demon known as Valak, who appears as the evil nun first glimpsed in The Conjuring 2, who picks apart the believes in the monastery one by one. The film ends with a flash-forward to the 1970s that connects it directly to the first Conjuring film and the investigations of Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), but there are also some loose threads in The Nun's timeline that offer an opportunity for a direct sequel. 

Earlier this year, while promoting her new HBO series The Gilded Age, The Nun star Taissa Farmiga offered this updated on a potential sequel:

"There have definitely been whisperings and talks in the last year, but the pandemic has obviously affected everything including filming and such. So I heard mentions of it back in the fall, maybe, and there were talks of potentially trying to see what my availability was. But I also haven’t seen a script. So I haven’t heard anything definitive or anyone say, 'Hey, this is going.' So I don’t know, but I would love to go back and visit Sister Irene. It’s been years."

Now, it seems Farmiga just might get her wish, as the Conjuring franchise continues its expansion after the third film in the main series, last year's The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. There are still plenty of artifacts in Ed and Lorraine's room full of supernatural souvenirs worth exploring. It just happens that The Nun might be next out of the gate.

If you're looking for more horror in the meantime, check out the extensive catalog of horror flicks on Peacock. Also be on the lookout for Firestarter, which hits the service and theaters on May 13.