In early April 2018, Warner Bros. Pictures announced that a then-untitled film in The Conjuring Universe franchise would be released on July 3, 2019. Later that month, it was announced that the film would be another installment in the Annabelle series, with Dauberman signed on to write and direct the film in his directorial debut, based on a story treatment written by Dauberman and Wan. Principal photography commenced by mid-October and officially wrapped in December 2018 in Los Angeles.
Annabelle Comes Home was theatrically released in the United States on June 26, 2019, by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema. It grossed over $231million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics.
Plot
DemonologistsEd and Lorraine Warren confiscate the demonic Annabelle doll from nurses Debbie and Camilla. During the drive back home, the doll summons spirits to attack Ed. Annabelle is locked in a sacred glass case in the couple's artifacts room to ensure the evil is contained.
Sometime later, the Warrens welcome Mary Ellen, who will be in charge of babysitting their daughter, Judy, while they travel overnight to investigate another case. At school, Judy notices a ghostly priest following her. Mary Ellen's friend, Daniela, arrives uninvited to the Warrens' home. She sneaks into the artifacts room and inadvertently releases the spirit of Annabelle "Bee" Mullins. Annabelle releases other spirits, such as the Ferryman, the Bride, a Feeley Meeley board game, and the Black Shuck, and the terror begins.
Mary Ellen's crush, Bob Palmeri, arrives but is attacked by the Black Shuck. Judy and Mary Ellen are confronted by other spirits. Daniela sneaks back into the house to return the artifacts room's keys. She gets locked inside and is tormented by the haunted objects. She is found in time by Judy and Mary Ellen.
Judy explains that they must lock Annabelle back in her case so the other spirits will rest. Bob protects Judy from the Black Shuck as she retrieves Mary Ellen's asthma inhaler, while Daniela is possessed by the Bride. Mary Ellen and Judy find the doll when the ghostly priest, acting as Judy's guardian, guides them to the Ferryman. They retrieve the case's key but struggle when the demon of the doll attacks them. Daniela recovers when Judy plays Ed's recorded footage of the Bride's exorcism. After the doll is put back in the case and locked, the disturbances cease.
Ed and Lorraine return the next morning. At Judy's birthday party, Daniela apologizes to Lorraine, who gives her a comforting message from her father.
In early April 2018, Warner Bros. announced that a then-untitled film in the Conjuring Universe franchise would be released on July 3, 2019. Later that month, it was announced that the film would be another installment in the Annabelle series, with Gary Dauberman signed on to write and direct the film in his directorial debut, based on a story treatment written by Dauberman and James Wan.[4] Wan and Peter Safran co-produced the project.[5] During the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con, Wan and Safran revealed the film's events would take place after Annabelle and would focus on the doll after she had been placed in a glass case in the Warrens' museum.[6] Dauberman later confirmed this, stating that the film would take place shortly after the beginning of The Conjuring where the titular character is introduced, but also before many of the events of the first installment.[7]
Principal photography commenced by mid-October in Los Angeles,[9][4] with Michael Burgess serving as cinematographer.[10] On December 7, Wilson announced that he had finished filming his scenes. A week later, filming officially wrapped.[11][12] In February 2019, Joseph Bishara—who composed the scores for The Conjuring, Annabelle, The Conjuring 2, and The Curse of La Llorona—was revealed to be scoring Annabelle Comes Home.[13] On March 30, 2019, Kirk M. Morri was announced as the film's editor.[14]
Release
Annabelle Comes Home was theatrically released in the United States on June 26, 2019, by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema.[15] It was originally scheduled for release on July 3, 2019, but was later moved up to June 28, and then to June 26.[4][15] The studio spent a total of $77 million promoting the film.[16] The film is dedicated to Lorraine Warren, who died on April 18, 2019.[17]Annabelle Comes Home was released on Digital HD on September 17, 2019, and on Blu-ray and DVD on October 8, 2019.[18] It was released in a May 2022 Blu-ray collection with the other The Conjuring Universe movies.[19]
Reception
Box office
Annabelle Comes Home grossed $74.2million in the United States and Canada, and $157.1million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $231.3million.[3]Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $64million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[16]
In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross $30–35million from 3,587 theaters over its first five days.[20] It made $7.2million on its first day, a Wednesday, including $3.5million from Tuesday night previews, the third-best total of any Conjuring installment.[21] It then made $3.6million on its second day of release for a two-day total of $10.8million. It went on to debut to $20.3million (a five-day total of $31.2million), finishing second at the box office, behind holdover Toy Story 4, and marking the lowest start of any Conjuring film.[2] In its second weekend, the film dropped 52% and grossed $9.8million, finishing in fifth.[22]
Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 64% based on 211 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Fun for fans even if it isn't as frightening as some of its predecessors, Annabelle Comes Home suggests there's still some life left in the Conjuring franchise."[23]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 53 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[24] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of B− on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an average 2.5 out of 5 stars, and a 42% "definite recommend".[21]
Accolades
Two crew members were nominated for their work on the film. Leah Butler was nominated in the Best Costume Design category at the 2019 Fright Meter Awards.[25]
Gary Dauberman was nominated as Legion M Breakthrough Director at the 2019 Saturn Awards.[26]
Future
Prior to the release of the film in June 2019, Dauberman commented on the possibility of another film in the Annabelle series: "I didn't look at this process ... going, 'What other stuff can we absolutely spin-off into other movies?' [It's about] what works for this movie, and then if people seem to dig it, then we'll go from there."[27] Safran also commented on the possibility, stating that they will continue to develop and create films "as long as [they] keep having original stories to tell. The moment that you start repeating yourself and really diluting the good will that exists out there, then it's the beginning of the end."[27]
