The writers of “The Conjuring” films Chad and Carey Hayes are developing a new horror franchise of films inspired by the stories of the haunted LaLaurie Mansion in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
The two brothers will tell the history of the house and its crazed owner, Madame Delphine LaLaurie across multiple film installments, and the intention is for principal photography to begin in 2020.
The LaLaurie Mansion is considered one of the most haunted houses in the world and has been closed to the public since 1932, but it remains a popular tourist attraction. The house’s owner Madame LaLaurie was a New Orleans socialite and serial killer who tortured and murdered enslaved persons hidden away in her house all while being the center of attention as the host of extravagant parties.
In 1834, an enslaved person chained to the stove set the house on fire, fearing her fate would end on the third floor of the house, where many of the victims would be led to never return. Firefighters discovered the horrors in the hidden rooms on the third floor and Madame LaLaurie fled the city, never to be seen again.
Kathy Bates portrayed a fictionalized version of Madame LaLaurie on “American Horror Story: Coven,” and her history has been well-known in popular culture. But the Hayes brothers intend to give a deep dive to the house’s history in the 19th century and its more fantastical and horrific modern history.
The Hayes brothers are partnering with Cindy Bond and Doug McKay of Faster Horse Pictures along with Michael Whalen, who purchased and owns the house, all serving as producers. Joshua Ryan Dietz and Dylan Bond are serving as executive producers. Local historian Andrew Ward is consulting on the project.
The writers are even entertaining the idea of doing the first draft of the screenplay inside the house, with the hope of filming some of the movies on site.
“The LaLaurie Mansion is as scary a place as there is in the world and we won’t hold back in giving audiences the full effect. Chad and Carey will have their hands full, but they are true masters in cinematic retellings of disturbing material. We wouldn’t want this diabolical material in the hands of anyone else,” McKay said in a statement.
“Building a horror franchise starts with the IP, and for us to be able to tap the LaLaurie Mansion, and its twisted history, is a major coup for Faster Horse. Put in the hands of such gifted storytellers like Chad and Carey, we feel there are many chapters to tell – one frightening occurrence after the next,” Bond said in a statement.
“We love writing films in which we get to tell true stories – incorporating moments that people can look up and discover did in fact happen. With the LaLaurie House we get to do exactly that… there is a wealth of documentation of a very dark and frightening past of true events. Not to mention that after spending some time there, what we personally experienced was truly unnerving. We haven’t been this excited about a project since ‘The Conjuring,'” the Hayes brothers jointly said in a statement.
David Boyle negotiated the deal for Faster Horse. Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes are represented by Circle of Confusion and law firm McKuin Frankel Whitehead.
The LaLaurie project will be the second film project from Faster Horse. The company launched just last month from producers Bond (“I Can Only Imagine”) and McKay (“What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” “Zodiac”), who revealed their debut film project would be as Tate Taylor’s “American Pain.”
'The Conjuring' Movies Ranked, From Worst to Best (Photos)
What began as a modest haunted house story, inspired by the real-life paranormal investigations of controversial figures Ed and Lorraine Warren, has grown into one of the most lucrative horror franchises in years. “The Conjuring” and its sequels, prequels and spin-offs are blockbuster horror movies, but they are not all created equal.
8. "Annabelle" (2014)
The evil doll named Annabelle was introduced in the first “Conjuring” as the most wicked trinket in the Warren Family vault of horrors, but you wouldn’t know it from watching her first solo film. “Annabelle” takes place in the apartment an impossibly boring family, where the struggling housewife (Annabelle Wallis, “The Mummy”) gradually realizes that their newest collectible doll is evil. It’s a film devoid of genuine dread, which relies entirely on predictable “boo” scares to get a rise out of the audience.
Warner Bros.
7. ‘The Curse of La Llorona" (2019)
Michael Chaves’ film wasn’t advertised as an official “Conjuring” spin-off, but one of the characters from “Annabelle” shows up, and there’s a flashback to that infernal doll, so it counts. Unfortunately, this movie isn't very good. Linda Cardellini plays a social worker who accidentally picks up an evil Mexican ghost from one of her clients, and has to enlist an unconventional former priest (Raymond Cruz) to expel the invading spirit. “The Curse of La Llorona” has a few good scares, but they’re repeated ad infinitum, and the story practically flees from the religious and cultural themes that could have given it weight.
Warner Bros.
6. "The Nun" (2018)
Corin Hardy’s “Conjuring” sequel features nifty monster effects and spooky locations, but it plays more like a gothic adventure than a horror movie. And as a gothic adventure, it’s uneven, waffling haphazardly between gross, goofy and grim. Demián Bichir and Taissa Farmiga star as agents of the Vatican, investigating the mysterious death of a nun, only to discover that the isolated convent is actually a prison for an ancient evil. “The Nun” is fast-paced, and certainly never boring, but the total lack of subtlety makes it hard to take seriously, let alone get scared.
Warner Bros.
5. "The Conjuring 2" (2016)
Sequelitis strikes in “The Conjuring 2,” an effective but bloated follow-up that features more demons, more domestic strife, and more audacious shocks. Once again, Ed and Lorraine Warren find themselves in a based-on-a-true-ghost-story: The Enfield Poltergeist, which tormented a working-class family in the late 1970s. It’s a nail-biter, with some standout set pieces and terrifying villains, but director James Wan crams so much content into one film that the pacing can’t help but suffer.
Warner Bros.
4. "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It" (2021)
Michael Chaves takes over the “Conjuring” franchise proper with “The Devil Made Me Do It,” a classy and handsomely photographed installment that finds the Warrens defending a young man accused of murder, using demonic possession as his implausible “not guilty” plea. Although the story spirals off in too many directions, Chaves wisely sticks to the old-fashioned detective genre, decorating an already intriguing whodunit with eerie supernatural elements and striking set pieces.
Warner Bros.
3. “Annabelle Comes Home” (2019)
All the demons from the Warrens' creepy artifact room get unleashed, and it’s scary as hell, but that’s not selling point of “Annabelle Comes Home.” Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman and Katie Sarife take center stage as intriguing, complex, often melancholic teens whose soul-searching slumber party gets interrupted by fantastic and inventive nightmares. Those demons are obviously set-ups for future installments, but the film is satisfying on its own, thanks to a smart script by Gary Dauberman, who also makes his directorial debut. The worst you can say about “Annabelle Comes Home” is that it drags a bit in the middle, but it the bravura third act more than makes up for that.
Warner Bros.
2. "Annabelle: Creation" (2017)
The prequel to the first “Conjuring” prequel is a rollercoaster of a horror movie, a scary and surprising crowd-pleaser that finally does the creepy doll proud. A group of orphans move into a home with a strange family, whose daughter died tragically, and after one of the young girls discovers a spooky doll in the deceased child’s bedroom, all hell breaks loose. David F. Sandberg knows how to build suspense and how to pay off that eeriness in unexpected, popcorn-spilling explosions of nightmare fuel.
Warner Bros.
1. "The Conjuring" (2013)
The original “The Conjuring” is still the classiest, spookiest, most satisfying film in the franchise. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are wholly believable as real-life supernatural investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, who take on a terrifying new job when a troubled, working-class family moves in with an evil spirit. “The Conjuring” subtly builds a mythology while telling a satisfying, terrifying, self-contained ghost story, with a standout performance from Lili Taylor as the matriarch whose pent-up anxieties become disturbing realities. James Wan took the operatic style he developed for the “Insidious” movies, and this time uses it as a counterpoint to plausible, dramatic subtlety. It’s Wan’s best film, and a modern horror classic.
Warner Bros.
1 of 9
How does ”The Devil Made Me Do It“ rank in the ”Conjure-verse“?
What began as a modest haunted house story, inspired by the real-life paranormal investigations of controversial figures Ed and Lorraine Warren, has grown into one of the most lucrative horror franchises in years. “The Conjuring” and its sequels, prequels and spin-offs are blockbuster horror movies, but they are not all created equal.
Warner Bros.
