‘The Conjuring: The Last Rites’ Teaser: Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga Take One Final Stand as Exorcists Ed and Lorraine Warren

The beloved franchise closes out after debuting in 2013.

Ed and Lorraine Warren have one final case to crack in the iconic “The Conjuring” franchise. The paranormal investigating duo, portrayed by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, first appeared onscreen in 2013; now 12 years and a slew of spinoff films later, the original “The Conjuring” will close out with “The Conjuring: The Last Rites.”

Michael Chaves returns to direct “The Last Rites.” In total, the franchise has three “Conjuring” films, three “Annabelle” features, two “Nun” movies, and “The Curse of La Llorona.” Chaves helmed “La Llorona,” “The Nun II,” and “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.” A “Conjuring” series is in development at Max as well.

“The Last Rites” is set in the mid-1980s when the Warrens were retired. However, the couple returns for one last case involving the Smurl family. The Warrens most famously investigated the 1976 hauntings in Amityville, New York, which inspired the “Amityville Horror” franchise. 

Mia Tomlinson and Ben Hardy are portraying Ed and Lorraine’s daughter Judy Warren and her boyfriend, Tony Spera. Steve Coulter is returning as Father Gordon, with Rebecca Calder, Elliot Cowan, Kíla Lord Cassidy, Beau Gadsdon, John Brotherton, and Shannon Kook co-starring. Chaves directs from a screenplay by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, with a story by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, James Wan. The film is based on characters created by Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes, and inspired by true events.

Director Chaves told Entertainment Weekly that there was a discussion of including all of the prior “Conjuring” villains for an “Avengers: Endgame”-inspired final film. “Even as we were developing it, we were throwing a bunch of ideas out: ‘How shamelessly big can we make it?’ ‘How epic can we make it?’ ‘Is this the culmination of all the demons coming to face them?,'” Chaves said. “I felt strongly that the biggest, most emotional story we could tell was the most personal story.”

Producer Wan, who also directed the first two “Conjuring” films, agreed that it was best to center the feature solely on Farmiga and Wilson’s characters. “The beating heart of this franchise is Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson playing Ed and Lorraine,” Wan said. “The family dynamic, the faith the characters have, and the faith that they have in each other are really the things that drive this particular franchise. I do think that’s what people love about it. At least for me and [producer] Peter Safran, it’s really about finding a way to tell the stories of these characters and to wrap them up in a way that feels respectful to where we started with them.”

Farmiga teased that “The Last Rites” is actually “different than the others” in terms of the preceding films. “The other three were about hauntings, and this one is about reckoning, in a way,” she said. Farmiga previously worked closely with the real-life Lorraine Warren before she died in 2019. Farmiga posted a tribute at the time saying that Lorraine Warren was a “dear friend” who “touched my life.”

“The Last Rites” is executive produced by Michael Clear, Judson Scott, Natalia Safran, John Rickard, Hans Ritter, and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick.

Warner Bros. Discovery will release “The Conjuring: The Last Rites” in theaters Friday, September 5. Check out the teaser below.