Will there be a The Nun 3? Franchise's future explored

Given the successful run of The Nun 2, rumors of The Nun 3 are rife currently. The team attached to the parent franchise, The Conjuring, has not issued anything official, but hopes are indeed high. The Nun 2 was released in theatres on September 8, 2023, and against a reported production budget of $38.5 million, it has managed to earn $101.7 million worldwide.

Given the triumph and the fact that it’s a spin-off of the famed The Conjuring series, speculations of a third part have been doing the rounds for a long time.

Valak in The Nun 2. ( Image via IMDb)

Though there's nothing confirmed on The Nun 3, expectations were raised when The Nun 2 director hinted at the same early last month.

While talking to a portal, Michael Chaves said that The Nun 3 can bridge the gap between The Conjuring (2013) and The Nun 2.

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The Nun 3 can be set between The Conjuring (2013) and The Nun 2, says director

In the interview with SFX Magazine (via GamesRadar), Chaves noted a ten-year gap between the events in the 2013 film and The Nun 2. To put it in context, the former is set in the late ‘60s, while the new movie is set in France in 1956. So that’s where The Nun 3 can come in.

Poster of The Nun 2 (left) and a scene from the movie. (Images via IMDb)

He said:

"I wouldn’t want to give anything away, but this is continuing the timeline. Anyone who saw the first Conjuring knows that Maurice is possessed and then exorcised by the Warrens, and we know that that happens in the late '60s in the Conjuring timeline. This is set in the '50s so we’re still a ways off from that.”

The director added:

“The events of what happens in between this starts to fill out that story a little bit more. There’s other big ideas and big swings in there, and it’s filled with a bunch of cool Easter eggs. Without giving anything away it continues to fill out the picture and the bigger canvas.”

When asked if the main antagonist in The Nun movies, Valak, will be retained in the third part too, Chaves gave a spoiler-free clue that said:

“There’s a line in the movie: 'Demons are infinite.’ I like the idea that she’s always been here in different forms. I think that there’s still more stories of Valak the demon nun to be told.”

Even James Wan, one of the main men behind The Conjuring series, told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 that he intends to make all the franchise films come to a “full circle.” Since The Nun 2 hasn’t provided that yet, there’s hope.

However, the next movie of the series, The Conjuring: Last Rites, may bring that “full circle” Wan is talking about. In that case, The Nun 3 may never get developed.

As for the official update, there is nothing on that front.

Further, the legal tussle between the Valak actress Bonnie Aarons and the movie's distributor, Warner Bros., over payment issues is a significant determining factor. The production firm can always choose to replace Aarons with some other actress for Valak or launch another new villain altogether, but ardent fans of the series may not like this change.

The Nun 2 is currently running in theaters.