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HBO Max is bringing The Conjuring to the small screen, but it might lose its spooky creative center in the process

James Wan, who directed the first Conjuring and has been with every other film in some capacity, wants more of a cut from the franchise he pioneered. Otherwise, Warner Bros. might be bringing the story to TV without him

News by Grant DeArmitt, Staff Writer

Published on Wed Sep 10 2025

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The Conjuring: Last Rites is the "final" installment in Warner Bros' megahit horror franchise, but as we know too well, a good scare never stays dead. Case in point, it appears that The Conjuring Universe is set to possess the small screen, with a brand new TV series set in the same universe on its way. But don't rejoice just yet, Conjuring fan - it appears the show may be on the way with one big departure from the rest of the films. Or rather, Wan big departure.

That's right, The Conjuring's creator, original director, and longtime producer James Wan may not be involved.

Let's back up a sec. News of the Conjuring TV show comes from a Variety article published September 9, just one day after it was revealed that Last Rites had snagged the title of No. 1 opening weekend in horror history, box office-wise, dethroning the reigning champion, 2017's IT. Variety reports that Marvel TV scribes Peter Cameron and Cameron Squires were attached to write the project, with Little Fires Everywhere's Nancy Won on board to showrun. Wan's name, noticeably, was not mentioned in the article.

Elsewhere, though, Saw director and Atomic Monster owner Wan was all anyone could talk about. Specifically, the folks at Puck published an article titled 'James Wan’s ‘Conjuring’ Future Looks Dead.' In the piece, Puck details the ongoing contract negotiations between Conjuring IP owners Warner Bros. and creator Wan, who "wants to be paid more for his producing services." The outlet also notes that, even though Last Rites is said to be the "last" movie in the franchise, talks of a prequel series are already underway behind the scenes.

But that's getting ahead of ourselves - the question at hand is whether Wan's name will be attached to the upcoming Conjuring TV show and, in this horror fan's humble opinion, chances are looking grim. As Puck notes, Warner Bros and studio New Line have been arguing that Wan's role in recent Conjuring films has been diminished, holding fast to the idea that the franchise can safely create another success without its progenitor. And not to be "that guy" about it, but from a good deal of the stories we've seen about Warner Bros. in the past couple of years, "cutting costs" seems to be at the top of their list of priorities. Then again, perhaps Wan's many horror fans will make a big enough stink about him not being involved that the studio will change course.

The Conjuring is all about surprises, after all.

The Conjuring: Last Rites is in theaters now.

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Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.