Director Michael Chaves talks about bringing "The Conjuring: Last Rites" to Life

From New Line Cinema comes the ninth entry in the more than $2 billion theatrical Conjuring Universe, The Conjuring: Last Rites, directed by franchise veteran Michael Chaves and produced by franchise architects James Wan and Peter Safran.

The Conjuring: Last Rites delivers another thrilling chapter of the iconic Conjuring cinematic Universe, based on real events. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reunite for one last case as renowned, real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren in a powerful and spine-chilling addition to the global box office-breaking franchise. Farmiga and Wilson star alongside Mia Tomlinson and Ben Hardy, who portray Ed and Lorraine’s daughter Judy Warren and her boyfriend.

Speaking about helming the film and the terrifying case at its center, director Michael Chaves explains, "The Smurl case was a real haunting in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, and it went on from the mid-‘80s into the ‘90s. The Warrens were involved. The Smurls lived in a duplex, with the family living next door to their parents, so three generations. They started experiencing supernatural activity on the day of their daughter’s confirmation—a light fell on them, which is seemingly innocuous. But it escalated over the years to levels that could not be disregarded.

And while the Smurls were going through their haunting, with their family beginning to fall apart-the Warrens are basically retired, they’re out of the game and in a safe spot. We know something is going on with Judy and there’s this dark inevitability that’s hanging over them. That’s a really striking place to start. Your heroes have hung it up. But there’s a sense of unease, because even though it seems like they’re happy, that they’ve dodged a bullet and are no longer taking cases, we know they’re going to get pulled back in. Moreover, we know that that one last job also has every possibility of destroying them."

New Line Cinema Presents The Safran Company / An Atomic Monster Production, The Conjuring: Last Rites. The film is set to release in India by Warner Bros. Pictures and will be only in theaters and IMAX September 5, 2025.