James Wan Talks ‘The Conjuring 2?,’ ?Choosing Between ‘Aquaman’ And ‘The Flash’
Director James Wan’s The Conjuring 2 opens this Friday on June 10, and it is the sequel to his 2013 film, The Conjuring. Grossing $137,400,141 at the domestic box office, while earning $318,000,141 worldwide, the horror film was a huge financial success that garnered very strong positive reviews from critics. A sequel was, of course, inevitable, and James Wan recently spoke with Uproxx, discussing why he went forward with The Conjuring 2.
Possible minor spoilers for The Conjuring 2 up ahead.
Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson return for the sequel, reprising their roles as Lorraine and Ed Warren. This time around, Ed and Lorraine take a trip to North London to investigate evil spirits plaguing the house of a single mother raising four children. James wanted to make sure that if he was going to come back to direct a sequel, he couldn’t do something that simply felt like a repeat of what he did before or what anyone had done before.
For example, The Conjuring 2 begins with Ed and Lorraine taking on the Amityville case, a story that Wan was not keen on retelling again on the big screen.
“I didn’t want to make a movie that felt like I was repeating myself from the first movie,” Wan says. “I really wanted to branch out and do something different.”
Wan briefly touches on the religious aspects of the characters, in that faith is an important element in the life of this married couple. Wan was aware that this could be potentially a turnoff for some audiences if it isn’t handled correctly, so the filmmaker made sure not come off too “preachy” in any way as far as how that element is portrayed.
“Believe me, I definitely do not want to make a preachy movie at all. You know, faith is such a big part of who the Warrens are, so it’s not something I can sidestep. So I decided to wholeheartedly embrace it. It’s what they use to combat the things that they do. So I wanted to treat it as a character point of who they are – and that’s all it is. And it was something I was very mindful of: I don’t want it to be a commentary on religion, it’s just another part of the storytelling.”
For James Wan, The Conjuring 2 coming in with a runtime of nearly two hours and 15 minutes is necessary for all of the character development throughout the film. Wan recognizes that this is a criticism that he often hears, that the movie might be a bit too long, but the character work is handled really well. But this looks like one of the elements that will make this horror film standout from the rest, much like The Conjuring did in 2013.
Why Director James Wan Picked Aquaman Movie Over The Flash – https://t.co/f6gZyXf37C pic.twitter.com/tZ0NzD3ze5
— Screen Rant (@screenrant) June 7, 2016
During the interview, the topic of Aquaman came up – the next film Wan will direct. Because The Conjuring is a Warner Bros. film, Wan is already familiar with those within the studio and has even expressed an interest to be a part of their DC Extended Universe. When meeting with Warner Bros., before he accepted the job for Aquaman, James was apparently offered a choice between two of their upcoming DC Comics films.
“It was, well, oh jeez, this would be a big tidbit: They asked me which of the two characters I’d be interested in and it was between The Flash and Aquaman.”
For the director, there have already been multiple live-action versions of The Flash – with the ’90s television series starring John Wesley Shipp, as well as the current CW series starring Grant Gustin. However, there hasn’t been a live-action portrayal of Aquaman, and that’s an element that intrigued Wan the most. A majority of folks are familiar with Aquaman as somewhat of a joke or a silly character, and James Wan appreciates that the bar is kind of set low with this character.
“I feel the bar is a lot lower and I can have fun with him!” Wan says.
The Conjuring 2 opens this Friday, June 10.
[Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Dodge]
