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.