The Conjuring spinoff receives a release date

We now have an answer for what the unannounced Warner Bros. horror title will be for 2014. The date now belongs to The Conjuring spinoff, Annabelle. The spinoff is set to hit theaters on October 3rd, over a year prior to the planned sequel to The Conjuring which is set for October 23, 2015.

John R. Leonetti served as director for Annabelle with The Conjuring director James Wan on as a producer. There is no plot announced for this film, but I am sure we will get a trailer for it before too long. It is already July.

The Conjuring spin-off moving forward

We got news a couple months back that after the major success of The Conjuring, New Line Cinema announced their intent to move forward with three spin-offs. The main one mentioned was a spin-off about the Annabelle doll. We now have official confirmation that New Line is moving forward with the Annabelle spin-off and it's assumed it will focus on the origins of the doll's possession before the Warrens obtained the object.

Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton will lead the low-budget film and it will be directed by John Leonetti. Leonetti served as the main cinematographer for The Conjuring. James Wan, who directed The Conjuring, will serve as an executive producer.

Three spin-offs for The Conjuring planned

In addition to the news of the Annabelle spin-off to James Wan's The Conjuring (read about it here), we now have learned that New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. is planning three spin-offs total.

It was announced that the companies are prepping the projects based off The Warren Case Files. The projects will be micro-budgeted and most likely fast-tracked. Rumors are circling that the Annabelle spin-off may enter production as soon as December for a 2014 release.
There is no further info on exactly which cases the other two projects will focus on, but the Warrens certainly have a decent archive with potentials. In my opinion, if these projects are going to be considered "spin-offs" they should be based off cases from within the room at the Warren's house. Maybe a project exploring Bathsheba Sherman a bit more in depth or something like that. Hopefully this isn't going to mean loose, low-budget reboots of The Amityville Horror or Haunting in Connecticut. Amityville has been done to death and Haunting in Connecticut didn't come out that long ago.

Leave it to Hollywood. They never know when to stop while they are ahead.

The Conjuring to get Annabelle spin-off

Director of photography John R. Leonetti is hopping into the director's chair for Annabelle, an upcoming spin-off from James Wan's The Conjuring. Leonetti served as the DP for five Wan films including The Conjuring, Insidious: Chapter 2, Insidious, Death Sentence, and Dead Silence. It will be his third time directing a film as he previously directed The Butterfly Effect 2 and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.

Annabelle will be a prequel and is apparently going to begin filming by Spring 2014.

We also got some news about The Conjuring 2 along with the news of Annabelle. The Hayes Brothers are also penning the second movie and the studio has made it clear they will move forward without James Wan. Wan has previously stated his intent to move away from the horror genre and pretty much made it clear that The Conjuring and Insidious: Chapter 2 were going to be his last horror movies. The studio is probably using the threat technique to try and get Wan to return in the end, but I don't think it will work.

[UPDATE] New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. are planning three spin-offs total, including Annabelle. Read about it here.