The Conjuring spin-off Annabelle has performed reasonably well at the box office, but the critical response has not been good. Perhaps that’s why New Line Cinema have now signed a deal with director James Wan to return to helm the follow-up to his 2013 hit as soon as he’s finished promoting Fast & Furious 7.

Wan played a major role in launching the Saw and Insidious franchises, and while Universal have the option to bring him back for future instalments in the racing franchise, no firm decision has been made as of yet.

It was also revealed yesterday evening that the release date of The Conjuring sequel has moved from its original October 23rd, 2015 to an unannounced slot in 2016. The release was changed in order to allow Wan to return and his deal with New Line will see him produce a number of upcoming movies there.

“We had a great experience with James on The Conjuring, and we give him a lot of credit for that movie working so well,” says New Line President Toby Emmerich. “He worked on the screenplay and came to the table with very inventive things that were not in the script and cast it fantastically well.”

“Add to that his work in producing Annabelle, and he is one of the masters of the genre and we’re happy to have him. You go through the list of possible directors of The Conjuring sequel, and his is the name you stop at, which is why we tried so hard to make this work.” Are you looking forward to The Conjuring’s sequel?

Be sure to check out our list of some of the greatest (and craziest) horror movies by clicking here!