The next installment of The Conjuring Universe is coming soon. The Nun II, a sequel to 2018’s The Nun, is about to hit theaters and kick off the spooky season. The first Nun film followed nuns at a monastery in 1950s Romania, contending with an unholy force. Valak, the demon at the center of the film, originated in 2016’s The Conjuring 2. Now, the sequel will see Sister Irene, the lead from the first film, encounter Valak the demon once again.
Update September 1, 2023: With The Nun II a week away, this article has been updated with even more information regarding the upcoming sequel.
As the ninth overall installment in The Conjuring Universe, the film may connect the Nun universe back to the main chronology, establishing what happens prior to Valak's appearance in the second Conjuring film. Let’s look at everything we know now about The Nun II. What can we expect from the story, and how will it tie back into The Conjuring? Who is reprising their roles from previous installments, and will any new cast members join them? When and where can we see the film when it is released? And what else should audiences know about The Nun II, the next chapter of The Conjuring Universe?
The Nun 2: The Plot
The main Conjuring films center on real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren as they investigate supposed demonic hauntings based on allegedly true events. The Annabelle spin-off series runs alongside the main films, showing the journey of the haunted doll as she plagues various people. Now it seems like New Line Cinema is setting up a third franchise with a sequel to The Nun.
The first film is centered on a nun named Sister Irene, who travels with a priest named Father Burke to investigate a nun in a Romanian monastery who took her own life. They soon discover that a demon named Valak is haunting the abbey and possessing the bodies of those who live there. By the end of the film, Valak had not been defeated, setting up a new confrontation in the sequel.
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While concrete details are still under wraps, the casting announcements have given audiences a general idea of what we can expect. The sequel picks up in 1956, four years after the first film, and moves the setting to France from Romania. There, a priest is murdered, and Sister Irene comes face to face with Valak once again. While this isn’t much to go on, it does tease a new battle between Irene and Valak and a fight between good and evil.
In the trailer, we can see that this time around, Valak is terrorizing a school in France, and when Sister Irene goes there to investigate the murder of a Priest, she comes face to face with the evil force once again. It is said in the trailer that Valak used to be an Angel who was stripped of power by God, making it one of the most ancient and sinister evil forces of all time. The audience is excited to see the battle of good and evil between Valak, Sister Irene, and all the other children of the school.
However, as the filmmakers approach the story, one of their biggest tasks is tying the story into the primary Conjuring timeline. What happens to Valak in the time between The Nun II and its encounter with the Warrens in The Conjuring 2?
The Nun 2: The Cast
Once again, the audience will be able to see Bonnie Aarons as Valak. Aarons first appeared as Valak in 2016’s The Conjuring 2. Here, Valak was allegedly the demon behind the Amityville Horror murders. Aarons reprised the role in The Nun, set 25 years before the events of The Conjuring 2, and a brief uncredited cameo in 2017’s Annabelle: Creation.
There was a lot of speculation about whether Taissa Farmiga would reprise her role as Sister Irene, and good news for the fans: she will. Another familiar face in the movie will be Jonas Bloquet as Frenchie. There will also be some new faces, especially in the roles of the students of the school. Namely, Katelyn Rose Downey as Sophie, who is a bullied student in the school and forms a bond with Frenchie. We will also be able to see Storm Reid join the cast as Sister Debra. Anna Popplewell, who fans likely remember as Susan Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia films, is set to join the cast.
Side note: Taissa Farmiga is the real-life younger sister of Vera Farmiga, who plays Lorraine Warren in the franchise. Maybe that real-life relationship could be a way to tie the characters together. After all, Sister Irene has no part in The Conjuring films, so what happened to her after The Nun?
The Crew
The Nun II will be directed by longtime Conjuring franchise filmmaker Michael Chaves. Chaves' directorial debut was 2019's The Curse of La Llorona, and then followed it up with 2021's The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. Having his hands in many different corners of The Conjuring Universe makes him one of the franchise's key architects.
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Akela Cooper came up with the film's story and is one of the credited screenwriters. Cooper has worked closely with The Conjuring Universe creator James Wan, having penned the scripts for Malignant and M3GAN. Writing partners Ian Goldberg and Richard Naing are also credited for the screenplay. The duo previously have written for Fear the Walking Dead.
Release Date
The Nun II will be theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema in the United States on September 8, 2023. This means it will arrive almost five years from the date of The Nun, which opened in theaters on September 7, 2018.
The Nun II will be one of many early Halloween offerings for fans during the Spooky season. The film opens one week before the paranormal A Haunting in Venice on September 15, 2023. Saw X will open in theaters two weeks later, on September 29, 2023. In a recent development, The Exorcist: Believer will open in theaters on October 6, 2023, just a month after The Nun II opens in theaters. The film will certainly have a lot of competition.