The wider Conjuring franchise fans have cause for excitement as Taissa Farmiga is set to reprise her role as Sister Irene in the upcoming sequel film The Nun 2. The news of her reprisal comes just after fellow star Storm Reid was announced to also be working on the project.
Set in 1950s Romania within the same universe as The Conjuring films and presenting a fictional retelling loosely based on the experiences of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, The Nun tells the story of a priest and a nun in training from the Roman Catholic Church searching for answers to a secret entwined with an avatar of the demonic entity Valak. While the film did have its issues and criticisms, the performances were well received, and many consider it a hidden gem of the religious horror genre.
Deadline revealed that Farmiga, who portrayed the young female lead Sister Irene in the original movie, would be reprising her role alongside the newly cast lead for the sequel film, Reid. As fans may know, Reid has previously secured roles on popular projects like Euphoria and the Last of Us live-action adaptation. Bonnie Aarons will also be reprising her role as the highly regarded fiend Valak, the most iconic part of the original film.
Similarly returning to their respective roles from the previous film are co-producers James Wan and Peter Safran. They will be working with The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It director Michael Chaves from a screenplay by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and Akela Cooper. There is no word yet on if Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, a prolific and well-versed performer and sister of the fellow franchise star Taissa, will be reprising their roles as the paranormal investigative duo that the franchise is based on.
A sequel to The Nun has been on the hearts and minds of many fans of the genre, partly in the hopes that a second film will take the better parts of the original and improve on others, similar to how the Annabelle sequels became better regarded than the original. The stellar performances and uniquely compelling atmosphere of the spin-off could benefit from some of the more solid construction seen in the mainline Conjuring projects and extend the lifeline of the franchise much in the same way The Conjuring 2 did when it was released.
While many fans fondly regard the original, others have stated their displeasure with the spinoff films in general, insisting that the Conjuring franchise has run its course and should be winding down rather than forging on with even more new projects. Whether the sequel to The Nun will be the title that converts the skeptics remains to be seen.
The Nun 2 will be released in theaters on September 8, 2023.
Source: Deadline