There was a time when having a post-credits scene in a movie was considered strange. Today, thanks to the success of the MCU formula, it feels more strangenotto have a post-credits scene in a franchise film that sets up the next installment in the series. In an interview with NME, Michael Chaves, the director of the upcomingThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do Itrevealed that the film was originally supposed to feature a post-credits scene. But then Chaves decided it would be better to end the movie on a definite note instead of teasing any sort of a continuation.
“We actually had [a post-credits scene]. I’ll keep it a mystery as to what it was because it may kind of be coming back in another form. We were really proud with the ending and it felt like a real kind of finite close to the story. Not to say that there isn’t a door open for many more Warren cases and Warren adventures, but there was something about this that just felt like ending a trilogy, it just felt nice and solid with this ending… I’m glad that we didn’t put it in because it does seem sometimes like you’re being kind of roped into the next one. Even though I do love that as a movie fan, there was something nice about kind of ending without it.”
Ironically, while post-credits scenes can often feel shoehorned in unnecessarily to artificially expand a franchise,The Conjuring moviesare constructed in such a manner that post-credits scenes feel natural. EachConjuringfilm deals with a new case investigated bypsychic ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren, and the end credits scenes are a cool way to tease what case the duo might deal with next.
But in the case ofThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, it seemsMichael Chaveswas more interested in telling a complete story than setting up future sequels.The Devil Made Me DoIthas already broken with tradition from the previous movies by moving away from the haunted house setup that was used by the two previous films in the series.
Instead, the movie finds Ed and Lorraine getting involved with the trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, who became the first person in the history of the U.S. to claim possession by a demonic force in his criminal trial. In a previous interview, Chaves had explained that Johnson’s case, despite being unlike anything that Ed and Lorraine have encountered before, has deep ties with the lore of theConjuringuniverse.
“You have all of the scares and terror that you’d expect from aConjuringfilm but it’s set against this really incredible mystery. It’s a mystery that’s tied into what theConjuringuniverse is all about.”
Directed by Michael Chaves,The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do Itstars Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ruairi O’Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Julian Hilliard. The film arrives in theaters and on HBO Max June 4.
