New Line has tapped “Lights Out” director David Sandberg to direct “Annabelle 2,” which has landed a prime release date of May 19, 2017.
“Annabelle,” directed by John R. Leonetti with Peter Safran and James Wan producing, generated over $250 million in worldwide grosses on a $6.5 million budget as a spinoff from Wan’s 2013 hit “The Conjuring.” The film’s storyline centered on a possessed doll named Annabelle, as described by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, and set in California in 1969.
Safran and Wan are producing the sequel. Variety reported in October that Gary Dauberman had been attached to write “Annabelle 2.”
“Annabelle” starred Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton and Alfre Woodard. The cast has not been set for “Annabelle 2.”
“Lights Out,” which is Sandberg’s s directorial debut, has been set for a July 22 release by New Line. The supernatural horror film is produced by Wan, Lawrence Grey and Eric A. Heisserer, with Heisserer’s script based on Sandberg’s 2013 short film.
“Lights Out” centers on a supernatural entity attacking a family, with one member required to step up to protect them from a threat that can be seen only when the lights go out. The film is one of the titles featured at this weekend’s WonderCon.
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The Bloody Disgusting site reported first that Sandberg was in talks to direct “Annabelle 2.”
