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Major Details On THE CONJURING 2 Are Revealed - Official Trailer Included!



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The excitement level continue to rise as THE CONJURING 2 has been building up steam for quite some time now. The film was originally set to hit theaters on October 23rd 2015 but then it was pushed back to accommodate the return of director James Wan.

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are reprising their roles of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.

THE CONJURING 2 will tell the story of The Enfield Poltergeist which refers to a paranormal case that took place in London England. Set to be around Christmas time in the 1970's.

Daily Dead was able to visit the set of THE CONJURING 2, and was able to bring some new things into the light. According to producer Peter Safran, the film will be focusing heavily on the connection between the Warrens, yet fans should expect something different this time around saying:

"It was really important to James [Wan], if he were to come back and direct it that this would be a worthy successor to the first one. The first one was so well-received by both fans and critics, I think what worked in it was really the character development and spending the time to get to know the Warrens and their subjects and when they come together, it creates something real. We actually cared about them.”

He continues:

“So in this one, in the development of the script, it was incredibly important to all of us that we build the true family relationships that existed. We spent a lot of time talking to the family and understanding what they went through in 1977 and that brings a lot of authenticity to it, which is what we did in the first film, too. We also spend a lot of time talking to Lorraine Warren, who tells us all these stories of how it was working with Ed on these cases and then the writers can weave those into the script.”

The visit to the set took place on a day while filming down inside of a flooded basement, with an evil presence lurking under water. Safran says that said entity is Old Bill, who is based on the rumored real life haunting force in The Enfield Poltergeist case from the seventies. Bill will only be one of the villains in the upcoming sequel.

Safran talked about how they are not just making another movie about demon possession again saying:

“There are a lot of things you have to avoid because people have seen so many possession movies,” explained Safran. “In the first movie, for example, they drape a sheet over Lili (Taylor) for her exorcism. That wasn’t something that hadn’t been seen during an exorcism, because that’s your typical third act of a possession movie, so we wanted to do something a little different and avoid the typical stuff. I believe in this film. We’ve again found a worthy successor to that climax, but I obviously can’t spoil it too much. I can say it’s not your typical hold up a cross, sprinkle holy water around and say ‘demons be gone’ type of thing.”



Patrick Wilson was excited to be reprising the character of Ed for THE CONJURING 2. He is also grateful that things are being shook up this time around saying:

“This film is a different beast, literally. It’s a different case. It’s not handled the same way and that’s one thing I really loved about this. There’s a lot more going on.”

He adds:

“Without giving too much away, the character beats that we pushed—we’ve also pushed a lot of the physicality, a lot of the stunts even, in this film, too. When you think of one of those unbelievable shots in the first one with a stunt. We’ve all done a lot and I’ve personally done quite a bit, too. We can’t re-tread the same thing. I can’t just be there with a Bible at the end giving an exorcism. There are certain rituals that you do, but obviously every case is different. You have to fight them in different ways and this film furthers that.”

Vera Farmiga spoke about how this movie will take a look at the toll that Lorraine's spiritual gifts have had on her saying:

“I think the older she got, the more depleted she became. It’s spiritual warfare we’re talking about. It takes a toll on you physically, emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. It’s draining, and we continue with this thing that she saw and explore what that is. It still plagues her, so yeah, you will see an unravelment with Lorraine. It never got easier with her. This kind of work never gets easier.”

“Her instrument’s fine-tuned, but it takes a beating. She needs these tune-ups, and just a break, and obviously she never got one. Lorraine is so plagued. Even to this day, when I go to her house, she won’t go downstairs. She won’t go to the artifact room. I mean, why have it in your house to begin with is my question, but she won’t. She’s very haunted by all of this—and you will see that. It will continue to be an emotional roller coaster for Lorraine, because that’s just the nature of her business.”

The real Enfield Poltergeist case took a huge toll on the family at the center of it all. Peggy Hodgson and her four young children. Wilson talked about meeting Hodgson's two daughters saying:

"When Jen and Margaret were here, it was a much different experience than with the Perron girls when we met them, because Jen and Margaret were still very much in it in a strange way. You see how it really took a toll on them and the feeling that they had—because Lorraine was here too that time— was very open. They all hugged each other right away, it was very emotional for all three of them, reuniting. Whatever your skepticism is, whether you believe in this or not, there was a situation where this one older woman (Lorraine) desperately tried to help these girls, and that’s huge. That’s enough for me to realize they were in it for the right reasons. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, we’re making a ton of money out of this family.’ You could tell it has worn on them.”

Wilson added:

“Ed and Lorraine were there to help. I don’t think that they were going to go those lengths, of flying over to London and everything, if they didn’t think there’s something real. They tried really, really hard and you only do that when you really care. So I just tried to believe that as I’m playing Ed because it was a long, long process for everyone.”

Lorraine Warren in real life has had to deal with skepticism throughout the years. Over time, her and Farmiga have formed a great friendship. In regards if said skepticism interfered in her work on the character she says:

"None of that ever made a dent into what she knows and has a conviction of. She has a full-blown conviction that this is an ordained position, that each of us have gifts, and if you don’t utilize them, they whittle away. And this is her gift of sight. It’s the physical danger that she was in, and Ed was in too, at all times that hit her hardest. I have these tapes in my trailer of the actual recorded sessions, and these voices you hear… at times it’s actually quite light-hearted and corny. They call Ed names and make fun of him, they have a sense of humor. It’s so funny.”

“And we’re friends, but she’s older now and her memory is not as keen. A lot of times when I’m talking to Lorraine, it’s just about perennials and what annual flowers she’s planted in the front garden, and where do I get my wigs for Norma Bates, sharing meatball recipes and stuff like that. I really rely on the reading material. It’s anguish. I know that in the stuff that I’ve read—and, again, whether it’s madness, whether it’s negative mysticism that gets ahold of someone—it is sheer spiritual anguish to feel that on behalf of someone. She feels all of this. It plays on her emotions, on her body. She feels it physically.”

“I just saw one of the episodes on Sally Jesse Raphael where they received a bunch of skepticism. If you look at her, she never lost her cool. Ed lost his cool quite a bit. She was just so secure in her gift. There’s a reason she was the go-to medium for decades. She was the one police called. I don’t think she had anything to prove to anyone, but to whatever entity was in the room.”

“But I also have to play to the truth of what happens in our script,” added Farmiga. “It’s a combination of that. I have to stay true to that. But Ed and Lorraine had an extraordinary love, they were an extraordinary duo. They were such a dynamic couple and they had a fierce love for each other and they had a best friendship. All I had to do, really, is keep that in mind.”

Newcomer Frances O'Connor, who portrays the matriarch of the Hodgson family discussed her difficult role as the mother of four saying:

“In this story, Peggy’s a single mom who’s got four kids, and her husband left her for another woman. She’s just trying to raise these kids and it’s quite a stressful situation already. She really has just given up everything to keep her kids happy and keep it all on the rails, in this suburban London place. She’s had quite a tough life.”

“It’s slightly daunting playing a real person, but playing a real person with someone involved in something so scary also makes it terrifying. That was actually more in researching it, because when you’re in the film and working on it, it’s actually a lot of fun.”

“Before I came out here from London, I actually went up to Enfield and went up to the house just to have a look at the house and that whole neighborhood. That was good to be there, to be on the actual street and stand next to the house and look up and go, ‘Wow this is real, this place existed.’ I walked around the neighborhood of that area and just listened to people talking and just sat in a café to get a feel of how people talked and the vibe. It has changed a lot.”

James Wan is indeed directing, but at one time this was not the case and Safran discussed this notion saying:

“We were going to make it no matter what,” he explained. “It would be a completely different experience, though, because it’s such a luxury to have the guy who is working at the absolute top of his game doing exactly what he does best. It’s really rare. We were so lucky to have him on the first one, we never thought we’d have him back for the second one, truthfully. And he came back because he had something to say. He said he’d only come back if he felt he could make a movie that was worthy of being the successor to the first one, where he could make a character-driven movie that was also the scariest movie you’ve ever seen.”

“We were shooting on the stage this scene where Peggy, the mom, is standing outside her daughter’s door, knocking, and she can hear her crying inside. James came up to me after and said, ‘That scene is why I came back to do the movie’, because it was just this beautiful, touching family moment and it really spoke to the state of despair that this family had dropped into, that the Warrens helped them with. And that’s the reason why it’s great to be making this movie with James. We’d still make a scary movie, but it would be a different movie without him. None of us kid ourselves that we’re lucky to have him and Vera and Patrick all back to turn this into a franchise. What we had before was just one really outstanding movie; it’s the second one that makes the franchise. And that’s what we have with this group that we brought back.”

Both Wilson and Farmiga gave their thoughts on teaming together once again with each other as well as with Wan.

“James lives, breathes, and eats this. It takes a toll on him. He sleeps basically only on the weekends. His schedule is crazy and he puts everything he has into it. Even if he felt like he could just walk through a movie and be like, ‘Ugh, I’ve done a huge one, I’ll just hammer this one out.’ He’ll be the first to tell you, this is harder than any of us expected.”

Wilson adds:

“When I sat down with him a year ago, when he decided to come on, he said to me, ‘I really want to make it great.’ He just burns for this. When you have that passion, it doesn’t matter what genre it is. I’ve always said, even before he did Furious 7, the way he sets up his horror movies and his scares are the same way that you set up an action movie with the set pieces. It’s the same; we’re going to have this amount of action sequences so this can build them and block them. That’s the same way he does with the scares. He’s very methodical like that.”

Farmiga says:

“It’s just masterful, what James is doing here. He knows the script, and to see how to tweak it and how he puts his spin on it is just wonderful. It’s just a good fit. The three of us are a very good fit, and so, yeah, I’m thrilled that we’re all back together.”

When Peter Safran was asked about what the future may hold for THE CONJURING franchise he replied:

“We haven’t decided yet. We’ve talked about what might happen in the world of the Warrens, we spun off with Annabelle, which will also get a sequel. In terms of what a third Conjuring would be, we haven’t delved into that yet. It all depends on where inspiration strikes and it’ll be driven somewhat by James. We’ll figure it out. The Warrens are a great resource, but there aren’t that many unique cases. You have to make sure you come up with something that’s worthy of The Conjuring franchise.”

The cast is made up of Wilson and Farmiga, along with Frances O'Connor, Abhi Sinha, Patrick McAuley Madison Wolfe, Benjamin Haigh, Lauren Esposito, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Simon Delaney, Franka Potente, and Simon McBurney.



The script for THE CONJURING 2 was first written by Carey and Chad Hayes with Eric Heisserer coming to make changes as needed. Writer David Leslie Johnson (ORPHAN and WRATH OF THE TITANS) has the task of rewriting the screenplay. Johnson is also known for his work on AMC's THE WALKING DEAD.

THE CONJURING 2 will be in theaters June 10th.
Horror Domain - Cursed Evil Overlord Tuesday 3/01/2016 at 06:32 PM | 103958