The Nun | |
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Directed by | Corin Hardy |
Screenplay by | Gary Dauberman |
Story by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Maxime Alexandre |
Edited by |
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Music by | Abel Korzeniowski |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 96 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $22 million [2] |
Box office | $366 million [2] |
The Nun is a 2018 American gothic supernatural horror film directed by Corin Hardy and written by Gary Dauberman, from a story by Dauberman and James Wan. It serves as a spiritual spin-off to The Conjuring 2 and is the fifth installment in The Conjuring shared universe. The film stars Taissa Farmiga, Demián Bichir and Jonas Bloquet, with Bonnie Aarons reprising her role as the Demon Nun, an incarnation of Valak, from The Conjuring 2. The plot follows a Roman Catholic priest and a nun in her novitiate as they uncover an unholy secret in 1952 Romania. It is followed by a sequel The Nun II , released in 2023.
Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema announced The Nun, a spin-off film to The Conjuring 2, which had opened five days earlier, with Peter Safran and Wan producing. The initial script for the film was written by David Leslie Johnson. Hardy had signed on to direct The Nun with a new screenplay from Wan and Dauberman. Principal photography began in May 2017 in Bucharest, Romania.
The Nun was released in the United States on September 7, 2018. It received mixed reviews and grossed $366 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of the series. In 2023, a sequel The Nun II , was released.
In 1952 Romania, two nuns living at the Saint Cartha's monastery are attacked by an unseen evil force. The surviving nun, Sister Victoria, flees from the attacker, a demon appearing as a nun, and hangs herself. Her body is discovered by Frenchie, a villager who transports supplies to the nuns.
The Vatican sends Father Burke with Sister Irene, a nun in her novitiate, to Romania to investigate. The pair meets Frenchie, discover Victoria's body, and take a key from her corpse. Inside the abbey, they meet the Abbess, who informs them that the nuns observe silence during the night so they need to return the next day. That night, Burke is rescued by Irene after being buried alive in the graveyard by the demonic entity.
The next day, Irene and Burke return to the abbey, but only Irene can enter as it is cloistered. She meets the other nuns and learns that they are praying constantly, swapping in shifts, to keep the entity at bay. The abbey was built in the Dark Ages as a castle for the Duke of St. Carta, a powerful aristocrat obsessed with the occult. The duke summoned the demon through a rift in the catacombs but was killed by Christian knights, who sealed the rift with a vial filled with the Blood of Christ. However, the bombings during World War II reopened the rift, unleashing the entity. Burke, through a book that he saw and took after being buried alive, identifies the demon as Valak and discovers the Abbess has been dead all along.
Irene is attacked by Valak and joins the nuns in prayer to ward it off. When she reunites with Burke and Frenchie, she discovers that none of the nuns she had seen and talked to were real and she had been praying alone. Sister Victoria had been the last nun in that abbey and had sacrificed herself to stop Valak from possessing her.
Theorizing that Valak can only be stopped if they seal the rift again with the blood of Christ from the reliquary the same way the knights did, the trio retrieves the vial with Victoria's key. Irene asks Burke to elevate her status to a professed nun, which he does. In the tunnel, she is possessed by Valak but Frenchie smears the blood of Christ on her face, casting out the demon. Valak starts to drown her in a flooded chamber. Irene, who had kept some of Christ's blood from the vial in her mouth, spits it into the demon's face, banishing it as the rift is sealed. Frenchie resuscitates Irene and reveals his real name is Maurice. Unbeknownst to the others, during the attack, Maurice was possessed by Valak.
Twenty years later at a university seminar in Wakefield, Massachusetts, Carolyn Perron watches as Ed and Lorraine Warren present footage of their attempt to exorcise a possessed older Maurice. Maurice grabs Lorraine, showing her a vision of Ed dying, which initiates the Warrens' investigation of the Perron farmhouse haunting.
Additionally, Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, and Lili Taylor appear in archive footage from The Conjuring as Ed and Lorraine Warren and Carolyn Perron, respectively.
On June 15, 2016, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema announced The Nun, a spin-off film to The Conjuring 2 , which had opened five days earlier. Peter Safran and James Wan produced. The initial script for the film was written by David Leslie Johnson. [3] On February 17, 2017, it was announced that Corin Hardy had signed on to direct The Nun with a new screenplay from Wan and Gary Dauberman. [4] During the filming of Annabelle: Creation , Safran revealed that The Nun would chronologically come first in The Conjuring Universe, making it a further prequel to The Conjuring series and Annabelle series. He said, "We have a board that we created that has what we hope will ultimately be our series of movies. We have it in chronological order, so we can keep track of where it all happens." [5]
On April 5, 2017, Demián Bichir was cast in the film, as a priest investigating a nun's mysterious suicide. [6] Taissa Farmiga was cast shortly after, as a Roman Catholic nun in her novitiate. [7] Corin Hardy later said that he initially did not want to cast Farmiga due to her being the sister of The Conjuring star Vera Farmiga, but changed his mind when he saw her auditions, "I watched 100 auditions for this role and she had some kind of presence outside of her own body that is evident, and she's phenomenal." [8] Bonnie Aarons was then set to reprise her role as the "Demon Nun" character Valak from The Conjuring 2. [9] Charlotte Hope, Jonas Bloquet, and Ingrid Bisu were subsequently announced to star, rounding out the main cast. [10] [11] [12]
Principal photography for the film began on May 3, 2017, at Castel Film Studios in Bucharest, Romania, with Maxime Alexandre serving as cinematographer. [13] Film director Corin Hardy had a Roman Catholic priest bless the set prior to filming. [14] Scenes were filmed in the Palace of the Parliament building in June, for a fee of €5,000 per hour. [15] Filming also took place at the Corvin Castle in Hunedoara [16] and in Sighișoara, Transylvania. [17] Hardy saw a handprint in the dust while filming in Mogoșoaia, which he believed to be that of a ghost. [18] Hardy announced on his social media accounts that production had wrapped on June 23, 2017, after 38 days. [19]
The Nun reportedly went under extensive reshoots. The Curse of La Llorona cinematographer Michael Burgess had worked on the film. [20] Wan also worked as a second unit director under Hardy. [21]
The original musical score for The Nun was composed by Abel Korzeniowski, [22] and was released on August 31, 2018, by WaterTower Music.
On June 13, 2018, a teaser trailer was released. [23] In August 2018, a short advertisement for the film was removed from YouTube due to an unskippable jump scare that violated the platform's "Shocking Content" policies. [24] The studio spent an estimated $90 million on prints and advertisements for the film. [25]
Warner Bros. Pictures had initially scheduled The Nun to be released in the United States on July 13, 2018. [26] In February 2018, it was announced that the film's release date would be pushed back to September 7, 2018. [27] The film was released on Digital HD on November 20, 2018, and on Blu-ray and DVD on December 4, 2018. [28] On May 31, 2022, it was released alongside other The Conjuring Universe movies on Blu-ray, excluding The Curse of Llorona. [29]
The Nun grossed $117.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $248.6 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $366 million, against a production budget of $22 million, becoming the highest-grossing film in the franchise. [2] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $155 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues. [25]
In the United States and Canada, The Nun was released alongside Peppermint and God Bless the Broken Road , and was originally projected to gross $32–37 million in its opening weekend. [30] By the week of its release, forecasts had been increased to $36–45 million from 3,876 theaters. [31] It made $22.4 million on its first day, including $5.4 million from Thursday night previews, both the highest such numbers for The Conjuring films. It went on to debut to $53.8 million, also marking the best figure of the franchise, and became the first film in almost a month to finish ahead of Crazy Rich Asians at the box office. [32]
In other territories, it currently ranks as the highest-grossing horror film of all time in twelve markets, including Indonesia, Brazil, Romania and UAE; [33] in the Philippines, the film was the highest-grossing horror film of all time until it was surpassed by Insidious: The Red Door in 2023. [34] [35] [36]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 24% of 209 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.4/10.The website's consensus reads: "The Nun boasts strong performances, spooky atmospherics, and a couple decent set-pieces, but its sins include inconsistent logic and narrative slackness." [37] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 46 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [38] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale, the lowest of the series. [32]
Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times criticized a lack of consistent narrative logic. [39] Donald Clarke of The Irish Times wrote, "To compare it to a ghost train would be to understate the narrative cohesion that habitually governs those seaside entertainments." [40] Matthew Rozsa for Salon said, "By overly relying on jump scares, The Nun uses a mechanical approach toward instilling fear rather than a more profound understanding of terror." [41] Writing for The A.V. Club , Katie Rife compared it to Gothic horror by Mario Bava and Hammer Films, praising the "giddiness" but criticizing the "heavy-handed" exposition and lack of suspense. [42]
The Plugged In (publication) review for the film summarized the spirituality evident in the film: "Evil is real, the movie tells us, but so is God. Spiritual trappings are everywhere. And when in doubt or danger, you can't go wrong with a little prayer." [43] In her review of the film published in the National Catholic Reporter , Sr. Rose Pacatte, a nun belonging to the Daughters of St. Paul, stated "that there are two Catholic theological aspects of this film that are accurate: one is that the devil exists, and the other is that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, will show us the way." [14] Another religious sister, Nicole Reich, stated in her review of the film published on Syfy Wire that if Valak was a real demon, he would never be able to reveal himself while the "sisters were in perpetual adoration ... because the Lord was present". [44]
In August 2017, Wan discussed the possibility of a Nun sequel and what its storyline might entail: "I do know where potentially, if The Nun works out, where The Nun 2 could lead to and how that ties back to Lorraine's story that we've set up with the first two Conjurings and make it all come full circle." [45]
In April 2019, it was announced by Peter Safran that a sequel was in development. He stated there was a "really fun" storyline planned for the film, [46] and commented that there was an "inevitability to another The Nun movie". [47] Later that month, Akela Cooper signed onto the project as screenwriter, while Safran and James Wan will serve as producers. [48]
On April 26, 2022, Warner Bros. Pictures officially announced the movie as a part of its upcoming slate at the 2022 CinemaCon. [49] [50] The following day, it was announced that Michael Chaves will direct the film. [51] Principal photography began on April 29, 2022. [52] Bonnie Aarons was confirmed to be reprising her role as Valak. [53]
James Wan is an Australian filmmaker. He has primarily worked in the horror genre as the co-creator of the Saw and Insidious franchises and the creator of The Conjuring Universe. The lattermost is the highest-grossing horror franchise at over $2 billion. Wan is also the founder of film and television production company Atomic Monster.
Edward Warren Miney and Lorraine Rita Warren were American paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of alleged hauntings. Edward was a self-taught and self-professed demonologist, author, and lecturer. Lorraine professed to be clairvoyant and a light trance medium who worked closely with her husband.
Vera Ann Farmiga is an American actress and singer. Farmiga began her professional acting career on stage in the original Broadway production of Taking Sides (1996). After expanding to television and film, Farmiga's breakthrough came in 2004 with her starring role as a drug addict in the drama Down to the Bone. She received praise for starring in the 2009 comedy-drama Up in the Air, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Annabelle Frances Wallis is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Jane Seymour in Showtime's period drama The Tudors (2009–2010), Grace Burgess in the BBC drama Peaky Blinders (2013–2019), Mia Form in the supernatural horror film Annabelle (2014), Jenny Halsey in the supernatural adventure film The Mummy (2017), Rebecca Crosby in Tag (2018), Sandra in Silent Night (2021) and Madison Mitchell in the horror film Malignant (2021).
Taissa Farmiga is an American actress. Her numerous appearances in horror films have established her as a scream queen, alongside her older sister Vera Farmiga.
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Joseph Bishara is an American composer, music producer, and actor, best known for his work scoring films such as Insidious, 11-11-11, Dark Skies, and The Conjuring. Although his career began with the 1998 Biblical drama Joseph's Gift, he composes music for mainly horror and thriller films, and has collaborated several times with director James Wan. Projects by directors John Carpenter and Joseph Zito, and musicians Ray Manzarek and Diamanda Galás have incorporated his work. In addition to composing, he frequently appears in films he is involved in, usually made up as a demon or other supernatural creature. He has also been a producer on Repo! The Genetic Opera and other projects.
Annabelle is a 2014 American supernatural horror film directed by John R. Leonetti, written by Gary Dauberman and produced by Peter Safran and James Wan. It stars Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, and Alfre Woodard. Principal photography began in January 2014 in Los Angeles. It premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on September 29, 2014, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 3, 2014, by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema.
The Conjuring 2 is a 2016 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan. The screenplay is by Chad Hayes, Carey W. Hayes, Wan, and David Leslie Johnson. It is a sequel to 2013's The Conjuring, the second installment in The Conjuring series, and the third installment in The Conjuring Universe franchise. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprise their roles as paranormal investigators and authors Ed and Lorraine Warren from the first film. The film follows the Warrens as they travel to England to assist the Hodgson family, who are experiencing poltergeist activity at their Enfield council house in 1977, which later became referred to as the Enfield poltergeist.
Annabelle is an allegedly-haunted Raggedy Ann doll, housed in the now closed occult museum of the paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Annabelle was moved there after supposed hauntings in 1970. A character based on the doll is one of the antagonists that appear in The Conjuring Universe.
Annabelle: Creation is a 2017 American supernatural horror film directed by David F. Sandberg, written by Gary Dauberman and produced by Peter Safran and James Wan. It is a prequel to 2014's Annabelle and the fourth installment in The Conjuring Universe franchise. The film stars Stephanie Sigman, Talitha Bateman, Lulu Wilson, Anthony LaPaglia, and Miranda Otto, and depicts the possessed Annabelle doll's origin.
The Conjuring Universe is an American horror franchise and shared universe centered on a series of supernatural horror films. The franchise is produced by New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster, and the Safran Company, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The films present a dramatization of the supposed real-life adventures of Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent yet controversial cases of haunting. The main series follows their attempts to assist people who find themselves harassed by spirits, while the spin-off films focus on the origins of some of the entities the Warrens have encountered.
Bonnie Aarons is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as the Nun, a personification of the demon Valak, in The ConjuringUniverse (2016–present), starring in The Conjuring 2 (2016), The Nun (2018) and The Nun II (2023). Other roles include the bum in Mulholland Drive (2001), Baroness Joy von Troken in The Princess Diaries (2001) and its sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004).
Jonas Jean Bloquet is a Belgian actor and film director. He made his film debut at the age of 15 in the drama Private Lessons (2008), which earned him a Magritte Award nomination for Most Promising Actor. He has starred in Belgian, French, and American films and is known for his roles such as Vincent Leblanc in the psychological thriller Elle (2016), for which he was nominated for a César Award for Most Promising Actor, and Maurice "Frenchie" Theriault in the horror film The Nun (2018) and its sequel The Nun II (2023). On television, he has starred in the mystery-science fiction series 1899 (2022), and portrayed Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor in the historical drama series Marie Antoinette (2023).
Corin Hardy is an English film director. He made his directorial debut with the 2015 horror film The Hallow, which he also co-wrote.
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The Nun II is a 2023 American gothic supernatural horror film directed by Michael Chaves, with a screenplay written by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and Akela Cooper from a story by Cooper. Serving as a sequel to The Nun (2018) and the eighth installment in The Conjuring Universe franchise, the film stars Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, and Bonnie Aarons, returning from the first film, with Storm Reid and Anna Popplewell joining the cast. Peter Safran and James Wan return as producers.
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...[The Nun's] cumulative gross has reached a staggering P239.8-M, after only nine days.
...Insidious: The Red Door is having a white-hot run in Southeast Asia, having become the highest grossing horror movie of all time in the Philippines with a $6M cume there.
Specters and hallucinations appear without consistent narrative logic.