{"id":1236405753,"date":"2025-10-20T15:20:47","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T22:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/?p=1236405753"},"modified":"2025-10-20T15:27:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T22:27:27","slug":"the-conjuring-last-rites-taissa-farmiga-cameo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-features\/the-conjuring-last-rites-taissa-farmiga-cameo-1236405753\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Conjuring: Last Rites\u2019 Director Michael Chaves Talks \u2018Logan\u2019 Influence and the Cameos That Got Away"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t[This story contains spoilers for <\/strong>The Conjuring: Last Rites<\/em><\/strong>.]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tBilled as the \u201cfourth-and-final\u201d film in The Conjuring<\/em> series, Last Rites<\/em> has grossed a franchise record of nearly $500 million at the worldwide box office. That puts director Michael Chaves<\/a> in the unenviable position of having to answer questions about the subfranchise\u2019s future and whether a tenth film is in the cards for the greater Conjuring universe. (If you\u2019re a truther for Chaves\u2019 2019 feature debut, The Curse of La Llorona<\/em>, then it\u2019d be the eleventh film.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\u201cIt’s absolutely done. It\u2019s absolutely the end. No more Conjuring<\/em> movies,\u201d Chaves cheekily tells The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> in support of Last Rites<\/em>‘ recent digital debut and Nov. 25 4K release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tIn any event, Last Rites <\/em>very much feels like a sendoff for Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s demonologist characters, Ed and Lorraine Warren. The film even ends with Lorraine\u2019s prophetic vision of their remaining years together as grandparents. But unlike other series cappers, Last Rites<\/em> didn\u2019t try to be a summation of every demonic threat the duo has ever encountered, instead opting for another familial story by way of 1986\u2019s Smurl haunting in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\u201cOne of the references that I kept on giving [for a final chapter] was Logan<\/em>. I\u2019ve always loved how Logan<\/em> wasn’t this big, sprawling movie where every villain is unleashed on Wolverine,\u201d Chaves says. \u201cThese fan-made trailers would show up online, and every demon that the Warrens have ever trapped is unleashed. So I thought it was awesome, but I was like, \u2018I’m so glad we’re not doing that version of the movie.\u2019 Ultimately, it would be a very hollow experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tLast Rites<\/em> also ends with Wilson\u2019s Ed essentially passing the torch to his soon-to-be son-in-law, Tony Spera (Ben Hardy), followed by the nuptials between Tony and the Warrens\u2019 daughter, Judy (Mia Tomlinson). The wedding ceremony allowed the franchise to have a sequence \u00e0 la Tony Stark\u2019s funeral in Avengers: Endgame<\/em>, where familiar faces from all the Conjuring <\/em>movies appear and show their gratitude to the family that saved them from various malevolent forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tTo name just a few, Lili Taylor and Mackenzie Foy returned as Caroyln and Cindy Perron from James Wan\u2019s franchise-launching The Conjuring<\/em> (2013), and Wan himself also cameoed. Sadly, scheduling conflicts prevented Joey King and Ron Livingston from reprising their roles as fellow Perron family members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tBut the biggest heartbreak of all involves Vera Farmiga\u2019s younger sister, Taissa Farmiga, who starred as Sister Irene in the Conjuring universe\u2019s two ’50s-set Nun<\/em> movies. Chaves directed her in 2023\u2019s The Nun II<\/em>, which confirmed that Irene and Lorraine\u2019s resemblance was not just because the roles were being played by real-life sisters. They\u2019re fictionally from the same bloodline too. Alas, scheduling also prevented Taissa from appearing in the wedding scene, however, she wouldn\u2019t have been aged up with prosthetics to play a 56-year-old Irene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\u201cThe idea of bringing in this long lost relative in Sister Irene, and then also dealing with the difference of age, was too complex once you did the math. It would’ve become too big and too sprawling,\u201d Chaves admits. \u201cI did text Taissa to say, \u2018You should show up at the wedding, just as a little glimpse, a cameo. We won’t worry about the [25-year] age gap or anything.\u2019 But she was shooting something, and we couldn’t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tBelow, during a recent conversation with THR<\/em>, Chaves also addresses his own future among the Conjuring universe\u2019s brain trust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t***<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tAfter a franchise record $482 million worldwide, are we sure <\/strong>The Conjuring: Last Rites<\/em><\/strong> is still the last hurrah for Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga\u2019s Ed and Lorraine Warren?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tIt’s absolutely done. It\u2019s absolutely the end. No more Conjuring<\/em> movies. (Chaves smiles after his tongue-in-cheek answer<\/em>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPatrick Wilson’s Ed Warren and Vera Farmiga’s Lorraine Warren in Michael Chaves’ The Conjuring: Last Rites.<\/em><\/span>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGiles Keyte\/Warner Bros.<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<\/figcaption>\n\n\t\t\t\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\tWhat led to the current decision in the first place? Did Patrick and Vera feel like they\u2019ve gone as far as they can go with these characters? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tIt really came from a place of wanting to end on our own terms. I love and grew up with the Nightmare on Elm Street<\/em> series. It’s such a fun, in some ways, horror franchise, and it\u2019s really innovative. They just kept on making those until they couldn’t make them anymore. So the hope with [Last Rites<\/em>] was to tell a final chapter that would bring it all together and be a really nice close to the series and give people a conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tYour previous <\/strong>Conjuring<\/em><\/strong> movie did very well at the box office despite being a day-and-date release ($206 million against a $39 million budget). But seeing what <\/strong>Last Rites <\/em><\/strong>put on the board as a theatrical exclusive, have you tortured yourself yet over what <\/strong>The Devil Made Me Do It<\/em><\/strong> would\u2019ve done under normal circumstances? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tNo, not at all. Conjuring 3<\/em> was such a hard journey, and it was such a hard movie to make before going into COVID. [Writer\u2019s Note: The pandemic also upended the film\u2019s scheduled reshoot period.<\/em>] I didn’t even know if the movie was going to come out. I didn’t even know if the world was going to survive. So I look back on that as an incredible victory and an incredible relief. That movie was either the first or second highest-grossing R-rated movie of the pandemic. It even made more money than The Suicide Squad<\/em>. So the pandemic had a major impact on this business, and while we’re still feeling the repercussions, I totally count that as a victory. It did great considering those times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tWe last spoke for The Nun II<\/em>, and you <\/strong>intimated<\/strong><\/a> that the flash of Lorraine\u2019s (Vera Farmiga) eyes in Sister Irene\u2019s (Taissa Farmiga) vision was confirmation that they share the same bloodline. Did you and the rest of Conjuring<\/em> brain trust know back then that you would at least try to bring them together in Conjuring 4<\/em>? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tThat was as far as we could go with that storyline. We didn’t bring Irene into the fourth film, even though I love working with Taissa. I want to work with all the Farmigas eventually. But it just didn’t really work in the [Last Rites<\/em>] storyline. The focus really was going to be Ed and Lorraine, and their relationship with their child, Judy. So the idea of bringing in this long lost relative in Sister Irene, and then also dealing with the difference of age, was too complex once you did the math. It would’ve become too big and too sprawling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tGoing into the movie, one of the references that I kept on giving was Logan<\/em>. I\u2019ve always loved how Logan<\/em> wasn’t this big, sprawling movie where every villain is unleashed on Wolverine. It was actually the smallest, most intimate Wolverine story, and by being the most intimate Wolverine story, it\u2019s such a beautiful final chapter because it\u2019s big emotionally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tWhen we were making Last Rites<\/em>, these fan-made trailers would show up online, and every demon that the Warrens have ever trapped is unleashed. It was as if Ghostbusters<\/em> was being applied to the Conjuring<\/em>. So I saw that and thought it was awesome, but I was like, \u201cI’m so glad we’re not doing that version of the movie.\u201d There’d be a lot of busyness from going through the family tree of demons and Lorraine’s connections. And ultimately, it would be a very hollow experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tTaissa Farmiga’s Sister Irene in The Nun II<\/em>.<\/span>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWarner Bros. Pictures<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<\/figcaption>\n\n\t\t\t\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\tWasn\u2019t there a plan to age up Taissa for a wedding appearance? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tNo, there wasn’t. I don’t know where that was shared from. I did text Taissa to say, \u201cYou should show up at the wedding, just as a little glimpse, a cameo. We won’t worry about the [25-year] age gap or anything.\u201d But she was shooting something, and we couldn’t do that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tAt least you had Murph from <\/strong>Interstellar <\/em><\/strong>present. (Mackenzie Foy played one of the Perron kids in the first film.)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t(Laughs<\/em>.) Exactly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tI forgot Joey King was also in James Wan\u2019s first <\/strong>Conjuring<\/em><\/strong>. You can\u2019t include everyone, obviously, but was she or Ron Livingston ever thrown out there?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tWe were totally talking to them, but they were also shooting something else at the time. If we were all in the same city, then it would’ve been possible for them to just duck over, but we were shooting in England. Honestly, we were trying to get everybody who has ever been in a Conjuring<\/em> movie into that wedding scene, but we just couldn’t. It’s really hard to schedule something like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tJames Wan\u2019s future involvement in the franchise is reportedly up in the air at the moment, but do you think you\u2019ll have a place at the table in whatever form the franchise takes? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tWell, this is the final chapter. This is the last movie. We\u2019re not going to make any more Conjuring<\/em>. (Chaves again flashes a tongue-in-cheek<\/em> smile<\/em>.) I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s been such a great journey, and I’ve loved being a part of it. So I would totally love to be called back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPatrick Wilson’s Ed Warren, Ben Hardy’s Tony Spera and Vera Farmiga’s Lorraine Warren in Michael Chaves’ The Conjuring: Last Rites.<\/em><\/span>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<\/figcaption>\n\n\t\t\t\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\tWhen you cast the roles of Judy (Mia Tomlinson) and Tony (Ben Hardy) in this film, was the decision made with an eye toward the future as well? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tThe goal with casting them was just getting the best actors possible. Without a doubt. New Line told me this advice a long time ago, but in terms of planting seeds for sequels, they always say, \u201cJust make the best movie possible and let the audience tell you they want a sequel.\u201d There’s been so many examples through the years of filmmakers planting all these seeds or proposing these big universes and imagining these big slates that never end up going anywhere. The core movie just wasn’t great enough. So it was really just casting the best people possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tSpeaking of sequels, did you get a heads-up that the <\/strong>sequel<\/strong><\/a> to your feature debut, The Curse of La Llorona<\/em> (2019), was on its way? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tOh yeah. I know everybody involved. So I’m very happy and very excited for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tLastly, you said something to me a couple years ago that I still ponder from time to time. You said that you were trying to rely <\/strong>less<\/em><\/strong> on past films for inspiration and more on outside sources such as photography. Are you still in that same mindset?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tThere’s this great site called ShotDeck, which became very popular. It has all these images from all these different classic movies, and everyone uses it as a reference. So I was also using that initially, and I thought it was incredible. But so much of The Nun II<\/em> was inspired by \u201850s street photography, and it’s such a great place to get your ideas. You\u2019re not just referencing movies; you’re actually referencing the real world. You’re getting great ideas from photographers that you might not have heard of before, so I’ve been trying to move into that and find my references from things that are outside of movies. It’s hard because we all love movies, and so it’s natural to have the kneejerk response of, \u201cOh, it\u2019s just like that<\/em> movie.\u201d But I think my filmmaking has gotten better when the references I bring to the table are deeper and broader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t***
The Conjuring: Last Rites is now available on digital ahead of its Nov. 25 4K UHD Release.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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