James Wan’s ‘Conjuring 2’ Brings on ‘Wrath of the Titans’ Scribe for Rewrite (Exclusive)

David Leslie Johnson will work off an earlier draft Wan penned with Chad and Carey Hayes

141934897“Wrath of the Titans” scribe David Leslie Johnson has been hired to rewrite “The Conjuring 2” for New Line and director James Wan, TheWrap has learned.

Johnson will rewrite an earlier draft Wan penned with Chad and Carey Hayes, with revisions by Eric Heisserer.

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga will return as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.

Peter Safran will produce for The Safran Company along with Wan. New Line executives Dave Neustadter and Walter Hamada will oversee the project for the studio. Production is expected to start this summer.

“The Conjuring” was one of the most profitable films of 2013, grossing $320 million worldwide on a $20 million budget. New Line’s “Conjuring” spinoff, “Annabelle,” was also a smashing success, grossing $252 million worldwide on a reported production budget of $6.5 million without Wilson or Farmiga in the cast.

Warner Bros. will distribute “The Conjuring 2” on June 10, 2016.

Johnson started out working for Frank Darabont before earning his first writing credit with the creepy thriller “Orphan.” He went on to write for Darabont’s series “The Walking Dead” and “Mob City,” and also penned WB’s “Red Riding Hood” and Disney’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” which will mark the directorial debut of Seth Grahame-Smith.

Johnson has been working on a project he sold on spec to Legendary and he’s also developing the MTV series “Hyde” with producer Roy Lee, with whom he worked on “Dungeons & Dragons.” He’s represented by Paradigm and attorney Howard Abramson.

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