The Conjuring Last Rites Based on Real Cases and Source Material
The Conjuring: Last Rites is the upcoming final installment in The Conjuring Universe, a horror franchise produced by New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Pictures, and Atomic Monster, the production company founded by James Wan. The film continues the story of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, whose real-life cases inspired multiple movies. The screenplay is written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, with James Wan directing. The project is positioned as the concluding chapter of the main Warrens saga, following The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), which grossed $206 million worldwide according to The Numbers and Box Office Mojo data.
The Conjuring: Last Rites is based on the later cases documented by Ed and Lorraine Warren, whose archives are managed by the Warrens' family and referenced in published books and the Warrens' museum in Monroe, Connecticut. The franchise draws from the Warrens' files on alleged hauntings, which have been adapted into films including The Conjuring (2013), Annabelle: Creation (2017), and The Nun (2018). The Conjuring Universe has earned over $2 billion in global box office, making it one of the highest-grossing horror franchises, as reported by industry trackers such as Box Office Mojo and The Numbers.
Box Office and Production Financials for The Conjuring Last Rites
The Conjuring: Last Rites is produced by New Line Cinema and Atomic Monster, with Warner Bros. Pictures distributing. Budget figures have not been officially disclosed, but previous entries in the franchise operated with moderate budgets compared to blockbuster horror titles. The Conjuring (2013) was made for $20 million and earned $319 million globally, while Annabelle: Creation (2017) was produced for $15 million and grossed $306 million worldwide. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It had an estimated budget of $39 million and earned $206 million globally. The Conjuring: Last Rites is expected to follow a similar cost structure, targeting profitability through theatrical release and ancillary revenue streams.
The film's financial model relies on theatrical box office, home entertainment sales, and streaming licensing. Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of Warner Bros. Pictures, reported consolidated revenue of $43.5 billion for fiscal year 2023, with film division revenue driven by theatrical and streaming performance. The Conjuring franchise remains a key asset for New Line Cinema within the Warner Bros. portfolio, with each installment contributing to the cumulative $2 billion franchise total tracked by Box Office Mojo and The Numbers.
Production and Distribution Partners
New Line Cinema, founded in 1967 and acquired by Turner Broadcasting in 1994, operates as a label within Warner Bros. Pictures. Atomic Monster, James Wan's production company, co-produces The Conjuring films and manages development of the franchise. The distribution is handled by Warner Bros. Pictures, which is part of Warner Bros. Discovery, a media conglomerate formed in April 2022 through the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc. The company is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the ticker WBD.
True Story Basis and Warrens' Legacy
The Conjuring: Last Rites is based on the later cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren, who were real-life paranormal investigators and authors. Ed Warren (1926–2006) and Lorraine Warren (1927–2019) founded the New England Society for Psychic Research and documented hundreds of cases. Their most famous case, the Amityville haunting, inspired