Killer dolls, demonic nuns, and sadistic clowns — While
we may take it for granted that every superhero adventure has more to come,
other continuations might surprise you. These 13 horror classics are slated for a sequel.
Valak is back, baby. The demonic nun — who's been haunting the "Conjuring" universe ever
since the second film in the franchise — is getting her very own sequel. "The Nun"
terrorized audiences back in 2018, scaring up a whopping $365 million across the globe.
Screenwriter Akela Cooper is going to pen the
script for "The Nun 2." The film will take place in 1950s France,
with Sister Irene of the original "Nun" being summoned to stop Valak's killing spree.
Bonnie Aarons is set to reprise her role as the demonic villain,
Taissa Farmiga will be back as Sister Irene, and Storm Reid has been cast in a lead role as a nun.
In our current age of sequels, remakes, and reboots of what can sometimes feel
like every significant film ever made, revisiting one of the most iconic horror
films of all time was all but inevitable. And sure enough, a new trilogy is in the works.
The original "Exorcist" centered on a 12-year-old girl, played by Linda Blair, who was possessed by
a terrifying demon. Her mother, played by Ellen Burstyn, hires two priests to perform an exorcism.
Although both priests died in the original film, Burstyn will be reprising her role, aiding new
protagonist Leslie Odom Jr. as he searches for help with his own possessed child.
Want to play a game? Well, Jigsaw certainly does. The notorious serial killer is coming
back. In August 2022, it was announced that "Saw X" will arrive in theaters on October 27,
2023, but recently just got moved up to September 29, 2023. And Tobin Bell himself,
the actor who's appeared as the Jigsaw Killer in every installment except for
2021's "Spiral," will slash his way back onto the screen. The film will be directed
by Kevin Greutert {GROO-tuhr}, who previously helmed "Saw VI" and "Saw: The Final Chapter."
Stephen King has created some truly scary stories, but none are quite as disturbing
as "Pet Sematary." However, there's something irresistible about the novel,
and Hollywood keeps returning to the insidious story. There was a film adaptation in 1989,
followed by a sequel in 1992. It was then rebooted in 2019, with Jason Clarke playing a father who
discovers the woods behind his house can bring the dead back to life, with terrifying results.
John Lithgow played the well-meaning Jud Crandall in the 2019 version — the
neighbor who foolishly tells Clarke's character about the sour ground behind his home. Now,
we're going to learn how Jud first discovered the unhallowed plot in "Pet Sematary: Bloodlines."
"There's something that brings things back."
A prequel directed and co-written by Lindsey Beer, the film will take place in 1969 and will show
Jud and his friends banding together to face the darkness that holds their hometown under its sway.
Jackson White of Hulu's "Tell Me Lies" will star as young Jud, and he'll be joined by
two acting legends: David Duchovny of "The X-Files" and Pam Grier of "Jackie Brown."
While the nearly silent "A Quiet Place" stays entirely focused on one small family,
the sequel, "A Quiet Place Part II" zooms out. That film brings the surviving characters from
the first film into contact with a small, peaceful community that has managed to stay isolated from
the sound-seeking monstrosities prowling the world around them. Now a third "A Quiet Place" film is
on the docket. But Paramount is positioning it as a spin-off, according to "Deadline."
Writer-director Michael Sarnoski will oversee "A Quiet Place: Day One." The leads will be
played by Lupita Nyong'o and Joseph Quinn of "Stranger Things" fame. Nyong'o posted a
cast photo to Instagram in March 2023, revealing that Djimon Hounsou would return to the "Quiet
Place" universe, likely reprising his role as "Man on Island" from "A Quiet Place: Part II."
We don't know much more about the plot, but we do know that "A Quiet Place:
Day One" wrapped production in mid-April 2023. Theatrical release for "A Quiet Place:
Day One" comes on March 8, 2024.
Killer dolls amass devoted cult audiences by combining innocent childhood playthings with
evil, murder, mayhem, and usually a little comedy. Following in the steps of "Chucky,"
"Annabelle," and "The Boy" comes "M3GAN," a high-tech take on the formula. In this film,
a toy company's roboticist creates M3GAN, an eerily life-like doll with sophisticated
artificial intelligence on board. She's able to learn and adapt to make life better for
the child she's imprinted upon — in this case, the roboticist's niece. Naturally,
things go awry, and M3GAN becomes violently overprotective of her young charge.
"M3GAN" earned $30 million its January 2023 opening weekend, far exceeding industry
prognostications. Just days later, Universal took the early steps to bring a sequel to the big
screen. Actors Allison Williams and Violet McGraw are returning for the sequel, as is Akela Cooper,
who penned the original script. Expect "M3GAN 2.0" to dance into theaters on January 17, 2025.
"Hey Katie!"
"Hi Megan."
Every few years, another "Cloverfield" movie comes along. "Cloverfield" sequels have
historically been developed under codenames, and aren't revealed to be part of the popular
franchise until their trailers hit the big and small screens — or, in the case of 2018's "The
Cloverfield Paradox," just before the film hit Netflix on Super Bowl Sunday. All three
"Cloverfield" movies are dramatically different from one another: 2008's "Cloverfield" is a
found-footage horror movie about a stampeding monster, 2016's "10 Cloverfield Lane" takes
place almost entirely in a bunker, and "The Cloverfield Paradox" is a space thriller.
Considering this history of secrecy, it's likely nobody will know what the fourth "Cloverfield"
movie is really about until just before it's released, which will be some time in the next
few years. According to "The Hollywood Reporter," franchise producer J.J. Abrams hired writer Joe
Barton to write the screenplay in January 2021. In September 2022, Babak Anvari {buh-BAHK ahn-VAR-ee}
landed the director's job. Almost everything else about the movie remains a mystery.
In 2005, Hollywood took a gamble on "Constantine," based on the relatively
obscure DC Comics title "Hellblazer." Keanu Reeves portrays the titular John Constantine,
a sardonic, world-weary exorcist who can talk to demons and angels and move back and forth
between Earth and the underworld. Budgeted at a steep $100 million, "Constantine" earned
$230 million at the worldwide box office. This doesn't cement blockbuster status,
but it is enough to earn a cult following. John Constantine would go on to inspire
the short-lived but well-received 2014 series "Constantine," where he was played by Matt Ryan.
Nearly 20 years after "Constantine" hit the silver screen, Warner Bros. started to consider making
a second film. In September 2022, "Deadline" reported that a follow-up was underway. Reeves
is set to reprise the role of John Constantine, while original movie director Francis Lawrence
will helm the sequel. Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman will pen the script and produce.
However, when Warner Bros.' DC adaptation department leaders
James Gunn and Peter Safran unveiled their plans for the next few years,
"Constantine" didn't even merit a mention. Reeves told "CinemaBlend" in March 2023,
"We're trying. I don't know if it's gonna happen."
Writer Akiva Goldsman gave a semi-positive update in July 2023, telling "Bingeworthy"
that he's figured out the plot for "Constantine 2," but as he put it,
"I just haven't started typing yet."
"I need a mirror. Now. At least three feet high."
The 2007 film "I Am Legend" starred Will Smith as Robert Neville,
the seemingly sole human survivor of an apocalyptic plague that transformed
most of the world's humans into a terrifying cross between zombies and vampires. However,
Neville eventually encountered another pair of survivors, a woman and a young boy who were both
also immune to the virus. The ending of the film didn't leave a lot of room for Smith to return for
a sequel since it saw Neville sacrificing himself in order to save the other two, but an alternate
ending found Neville surviving and having a darker meaning to the title "I am Legend."
According to the original film's writer Akiva Goldsman,
the sequel — announced in 2022 — would follow that other ending. Goldsman told "Deadline,"
"This will start a few decades later than the first. We trace
back to the original Matheson book, and the alternate ending. What Matheson was
talking about was that man's time on the planet as the dominant species had come
to an end. That's a really interesting thing we're going to get to explore."
Michael B. Jordan is set to headline "I Am Legend 2," along with Smith. However,
not long after "I Am Legend 2" was announced, Smith made headlines for
slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, putting the fate of several of his future projects
in jeopardy. Since the release will likely come several years after the incident,
it's possible that "I Am Legend 2" will still go ahead with Smith attached.
As for when we'll actually see Smith and Jordan meet up, we're not exactly sure. Speaking with
"Bingeworthy," Goldsman said that he'd begun writing the script for "I Am Legend 2" before
the Writers Guild of America strike had begun. But at the moment, the screenplay is on pause.
The rare supernatural horror movie that's also a 1980s period piece and something of
a biopic starring an Oscar-winning actor, "The Pope's Exorcist" was a solid hit,
earning a tidy $66 million in spring 2023. Russell Crowe stars as Father
Gabriele Amorth, a character based on the real person of the same name,
who allegedly spent years casting out demons on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church.
"The Pope's Exorcist" tells just a small part of Amorth's story — specifically,
the time during which he claimed to have expelled tens of thousands of demons. That
makes for a lot of sequel potential, and indeed, just two weeks after "The Pope's
Exorcist" hit movie theaters, Screen Gems began development on another movie about
Amorth's demon-hunting adventures. No word yet on whether Crowe will return to the role,
or if the original film's helmer Julius Avery is in line to direct the sequel.
"It's okay, Mommy. Henry's okay." Not only one of the most consistently
creepy franchises in recent years, the "Conjuring" universe is also one of the most lucrative series
of any kind, raking in over $2 billion at the global box office. The series was set off by the
'70s-set horror classic from 2013 about paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren, who look
into claims of a dark and evil presence at a spooky rural farmhouse. The Warrens' ghost-hunting
continued in 2016's "The Conjuring 2" and 2021's "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It."
With plenty more ghost stories to tell and a receptive, paying audience ready to watch them,
"The Conjuring" franchise will expand again with a fourth movie, subtitled "Last Rites." According to
"The Hollywood Reporter," lead studio New Line has already signed up David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick,
who penned both "Conjuring" sequels, to write the script for the fourth movie. Franchise-originating
producers James Wan and Peter Safran will also return to oversee the new film. Vera Farmiga
and Patrick Wilson are once more playing the roles of Lorraine and Ed Warren, although we don't know
the plot or the release date. More importantly, will this be the final "Conjuring" movie? Well,
when asked that question in a January 2023 interview with "Collider," Wan responded,
"You never know. We'll see."
A horror flick with a familiar format and an original premise, "Smile" is one of the few
non-franchise horror hits of recent years, so successful that it's probably the first
in what will be a whole series of movies. The first full-length feature from writer-director
Parker Finn, "Smile" mines terror and discomfort out of a usually friendly facial expression. The
simple smile becomes twisted and unsettling when it's plastered on the faces of those possessed
by an evil presence. After witnessing a college professor's inexplicable death,
a student experiences haunting visions of a creepy, smiling creature. Thus,
a string of horrific smiles and deaths begins — until crafty psychiatrist
Dr. Rose Cotter figures out how and why the evil virus strikes.
"Smile" grossed $217 million on a relatively meager budget, so it was a hit in every possible
way for Paramount Pictures. When the studio presented its upcoming slate at CinemaCon in
April 2023, it announced that a sequel to "Smile" was in its early stages. No
details were provided in regards to cast, a director, a screenwriter, or a release date.
"You're going to die! You're going to die!"
One of the most notable entries in the horror sub-genre of killer clown movies,
2016's "Terrifier" indeed terrified audiences with the gruesome and murderous actions of Art
the Clown, a dryly humorous prankster not unlike a mix of Pennywise and Freddy Krueger, determined
to kill three women on a cursed Halloween evening. With an ultra-low budget of $35,000, "Terrifier"
enjoyed a modest rollout, only to turn into a cult classic and prompt a 2022 sequel, "Terrifier 2."
In May 2023, "Deadline" announced that a third franchise entry, "Terrifier 3," would soon haunt
movie theaters. Set to start filming in the final weeks of 2023, "Terrifier 3" filmmakers
are working toward a release date of sometime in late 2024. As for the plot, writer-director Damien
Leone tweeted that "Terrifier 3" will pick right up after part two. However, he also told "Variety"
that it will be more in line with the tone of the first film. Leone said in the interview,
"I want to shift back a bit to the tone of 'Part One, which I felt was a little more
simplistic and old-school, gritty slasher. I want this one to go back in that direction,
and I want this to be the scariest one of the trilogy. This one will actually have a little bit
more of an evil overtone to it, so this is going to be hopefully the scariest and the darkest?"