Ed and Lorraine Battle Demons Once Again in Trailer for The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

The Conjuring film universe already contains seven films to date, including entries in the Annabelle and The Nun series, but it’s about time to get back to the basics. Warner Bros. upcoming release of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It could also properly be titled The Conjuring 3, as this is the third film in the “main” series within the franchise—the one anchored by stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, portraying real-life husband and wife demonologist team Lorraine and Ed Warren. It’s been a while since their last go at this point—The Conjuring 2 was released in the summer of 2016. This entry, meanwhile, arrives on June 4, 2021, with a simultaneous release (for one month) on HBO Max, which is a nice boon for horror fans.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It once again bases itself in a real-life “paranormal case,” but then massively dramatizes it. In this case, the film is based on the 1981 murder of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, whose court defense attempted to rely on the idea that he wasn’t responsible for the crime because he was demonically possessed at the time. This defense went about as well as you’d expect, and Johnson was ultimately found guilty. The official synopsis, meanwhile, punches that storyline up a bit:

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It reveals a chilling story of terror, murder and unknown evil that shocked even experienced real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. One of the most sensational cases from their files, it starts with a fight for the soul of a young boy, then takes them beyond anything they’d ever seen before, to mark the first time in U.S. history that a murder suspect would claim demonic possession as a defense.

The Conjuring 3 stars Wilson and Farmira, directed by Michael Chaves of The Curse of La Llorona, while also starring Ruairi O’Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook and Julian Hilliard. The change of director might be concerning to some, given that James Wan directed the first two entries in the series before now passing off the torch to Chaves. The trailer below contains some typical Conjuring spookiness, although there appears to be more daytime action and traditional action beats in this installment, judging by the cliffside scene in its conclusion. Check out the full trailer below.