Annabelle Comes Home is the third movie in the Annabelle series and the seventh installment in the Conjuring Universe, but it’s aiming to be different than all of those previous installments. As the Annabelle series’ third installment, Annabelle Comes Home continues the story of the infamous Annabelle doll, which began with John R. Leonetti’s 2014 film. But it’s also uniquely placed in the franchise’s timeline, thus making it a sort of midquel to Annabelle and The Conjuring films.

Set in the early 1970s, Annabelle Comes Home is written and directed by Gary Dauberman (IT, Annabelle) and stars McKenna Grace as Judy Warren, Madison Iseman as Mary Ellen, and Katie Sarife as Daniel, among others. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprise their roles as Ed and Lorraine Warren, respectively, in Annabelle Comes Home. However, their roles are a little more than a cameo. Audiences will still manage to see Ed and Lorraine on some of the tapes they’ve recorded, which will play in at least one sequence in the new film.

While much of Annabelle Comes Home’s story is being kept under wraps, what has been confirmed is that it takes place after the opening sequence of The Conjuring (when the nurse brings the Annabelle doll home), but before the events of the rest of the film. So, it’s a sequel to the first Annabelle movie (seeing as Annabelle: Creation was a prequel to that film), while also still being a prequel to The Conjuring. Therefore, it’s the perfect opportunity to bridge both corners of the Conjuring Universe together.

  • This Page: Annabelle Comes Home Scene Descriptions & Trailer Page 2: Annabelle Comes Home Character Descriptions From The Cast Page 3: Details On The Warrens’ House & Other Trivia From Set

Scene Descriptions

We had the chance to see two scenes being filmed while on the set of Annabelle Comes Home. The first scene was quite brief and was only between Judy and Mary Ellen. At first, Mary Ellen is walking through the hallways of the house, calling out Judy’s name, as if she was searching for her. Mary Ellen finds Judy in a bedroom (not her own and perhaps Ed and Lorraine’s room), praying on her knees. Mary Ellen immediately stops her, saying, “Judy? Judy, hey.” Judy says something back to Mary Ellen, but the sound was soft and a bit unclear.

In the second scene, Daniela is watching one of Ed and Lorraine’s tapes when Mary Ellen walks in and turns it off. Daniela then talks about one of the Warrens’ cases, about a bridal gown that kills the bride wearing it, with the blood disappearing afterward so that it can be worn again by another bride. Mary Ellen isn’t having any of it and doesn’t want the tapes played at all. So, to protect Judy, Mary Ellen wants to do something more lively, fun, and appropriate for them. (Funny thing is, the projector malfunctioned in one take, which led to Katie Sarife joking about Annabelle taking over.)

Annabelle Comes Home Teaser Trailer

Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema released the first teaser trailer for Annabelle Comes Home shortly before the set visit embargo lifted, and you can watch the trailer in the section above. It accurately represents what Screen Rant and other outlets were shown on set in November 2018.

Page 2 of 3: Annabelle Comes Home Character Descriptions From The Cast

Katie Sarife’s Daniela

Katie Sarife describes her character, Daniela, as the “really fun best friend that finds the humor in everything,” and based on one of the scenes that were being filmed at the time of the set visit - in which Daniela is going sifting through the Warrens’ archives - it certainly seems that she’s meant to be the character that pushes Judy and Mary Ellen throughout the story, perhaps not always in a good way. It’s a standard operating procedure for the “fun best friend” to be killed off rather early in horror movies.

Sarife considers Annabelle Comes Home the perfect opportunity to conquer her fear of dolls. Growing up, Sarife says she was “petrified” of dolls, and starring in this film is a “little bit of payback.” Somewhat jokingly, Sarife refers to her role in Annabelle Comes Home as a form of therapy, because “we all have to deal with our pasts, in different ways.” But on a more serious note, Sarife feels that she can use a lot of the “terror” she experienced as a child to better serve her character in this film.

McKenna Grace’s Judy Warren

In describing her character, McKenna Grace believes that all audiences need to know about Judy before seeing Annabelle Comes Home is that she’s Ed and Lorraine’s daughter. Saying anything beyond that, such as revealing why her character feels the need to know more about morbid stories (including watching the Warrens’ tapes), would be spoiling the film. Of course, much more about Judy Warren will be uncovered throughout the story, as she’s the central character. Plus, her interaction with Daniela and the furthering of her friendship with Mary Ellen will also flourish.

Grace admits that joining Annabelle Comes Home is one of the greatest things to happen to her in her life. She’s starred in major productions such as Captain Marvel (as a young Carol Danvers), Once Upon a Time (as a young Emma), Haunting of Hill House (as a young Theo), and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (as a young Sabrina Spellman), but Annabelle Comes Home tops all that because it’s, one, a horror movie and, two, set in the Conjuring Universe. Grace is an unabashed Conjuring superfan. (But her favorite horror movie is The Shining.)

Madison Iseman’s Mary Ellen

Madison Iseman describes her character, Mary Ellen, as someone who’s “put together in every way and sense,” and she’s someone who feels like nothing will hurt her at this point in her life. So, when everything goes wrong, Mary Ellen has the toughest time dealing with it. (This plays into why Mary Ellen tries to prevent Judy from watching Ed and Lorraine’s tapes, even going as far as to turn off the projector when Daniela is watching them in a particular scene that we saw while on set.)

Just like her co-star, McKenna Grace, Iseman is also a big fan of the horror genre. However, the same cannot be said about her character. Mary Ellen avoids thinking about the Warrens’ work because she’s afraid of that world, which plays into her backstory. While Mary Ellen’s backstory wasn’t discussed on set, it’s certainly something that audiences will discover in watching Annabelle Comes Home. Even though joining the Conjuring Universe was immensely exciting for Iseman, she admitted to feeling a bit out of her element. She always thought of doing a horror slasher film, because she didn’t want to “mess with the devil.”

Page 3 of 3: Details On The Warrens’ House & Other Trivia From Set

The Warrens’ House

For production designer Jennifer Spence, one of the best things about doing Annabelle Comes Home, in addition to having it set in the “groovy” 1970s, is having the opportunity to make her mark on the Warrens’ home by completely redesigning it from the ground-up for the first time. Spence, Dauberman, and James Wan initially struggled with trying to recreate the Warrens’ home from the previous films since there wasn’t any strict continuity. So rather than continue to string together all the different versions to form a hodgepodge form of the Warrens’ house, Spence redesigned everything.

However, two rooms from previous movies are returning without much redesigning: the home office where Ed Warren does most of his studying (and where the Nun moves along the wall) and the artifact room, where the Warrens keep all of their apparently accursed objects. Another thing that Spence retained for Annabelle Comes Home is the house’s wallpaper. Despite that, Spence found a way to make the house stand out by using richer and perhaps more vibrant colors throughout the set.

As previously mentioned, the vast majority of Annabelle Comes Home takes place inside the Warrens’ home, thus making it more of a contained film compared to the other installments. And to prevent the movie from being claustrophobic, while also trying to make the house feel like a maze, Spence designed the Warrens’ house to be somewhat of a maze. It’s three stories, and there are plenty of areas that are new - that haven’t been seen before - but may not be explored in Annabelle Comes Home. Spence designed the Warrens’ home to be able to be revisited in future Annabelle or Conjuring movies.

Given that Annabelle Comes Home exists within The Conjuring Universe, quite a few Easter eggs are hidden throughout the movie that hint at the Annabelle movies and the other franchise installments. One particular Easter egg, an Annabelle silhouette, can be spotted in a painting inside the house (which is really a painting of the house). That painting was made specifically for the film and done in just four hours, and it was commissioned at the request of Patrick Wilson.

Spence has brought so many “creepy” artifacts to life on-screen over the years that she would welcome the opportunity to create one herself. And if given that chance, the one thing she would want to have a spooky backstory is a telegraph. It could happen one day, too, if Spence chooses to move into directing as she hopes to do, which, considering her expertise in production design for horror films, could make for a terrifying story.

Other Trivia

  • Annabelle Comes Home takes place entirely over the course of one weekend, and primarily inside their home. The Warrens’ home was built on a soundstage on Warner Bros.’ lot in Burbank, CA. Rather than use a green screen for the exterior of the house (while looking out from the inside), the production team took photographs that match the exterior shots from the original film and then appeared to plaster them on screens outside of the house. This is not unlike how Joseph Kosinski used screens to display exterior shots on Oblivion’s set. Everything in Annabelle Comes Home is properly 1970s. That means the inside of the house, the costumes the actors and actresses wear, the references they make… everything. New Line Cinema and Annabelle Comes Home’s crew wants the film to feel like it was shot in the 1970s. At one point in the scripting stage, Mary Ellen was supposed to be Judy Warren’s cousin, but that changed at an unspecified time. However, given the fact that there was some confusion about that on set means it’s possible it was more of a last minute change. Though since it’s a rather inconsequential detail in the grand scheme of things, changing it late in the game wouldn’t mean much for the film. It’s more of a backstory element. Annabelle Comes Home’s entire set was blessed by a priest, and the main cast members were also all individually blessed. This is something that the production studios and teams have done on every production since The Conjuring 2. And, in some ways, they feel like it’s helped out, as some of the more spooky and seemingly unexplainable occurrences haven’t happened since. McKenna Grace loved her experience being blessed. With regards to the costumes, while Mary Ellen can be described as someone who would read Seventeen Magazine and base her clothing choices on that, Daniela is meant to be more of a tomboy. Also, judging by the costumes that were in the costuming room, it’s possible that a birthday party sequence may happen in Annabelle Comes Home.

Be sure to check back on Screen Rant for our full interviews with some of Annabelle Comes Home’s cast and crew in the coming days.

Next: The Conjuring Is Warner Bros.’ Most Successful Cinematic Universe

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