The Conjuring 4 will conclude the series with the return of a familiar face from the franchise

The Conjuring 4 has taken another step into development by welcoming back franchise favorite director Michael Chaves. 

In an exclusive with The Hollywood Reporter, it has been confirmed that Chaves, who also directed The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and The Nun 2, will direct The Conjuring 4. 

As well as Chaves, franchise favorites Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga will return once more to play Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Conjuring 4, officially titled The Conjuring: Last Rites, will see the franchise once again follow the ghostly adventures of the paranormal investigators, who we have seen face up to demons, witches, and beldams, all based on real-life exorcism cases covered by the late Warrens. 

The Conjuring universe also welcomes back screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, who co-wrote The Conjuring 3, and creator James Wan who serves as producer with Peter Safran.

Although no plotline has been released at this time, it is expected that Last Rites will be based on yet another Warren case. The first Conjuring flick was inspired by The Perron Family Haunting, The Conjuring 2 by the Enfield Poltergeist, and The Devil Made Me Do It was famously inspired by the 1981 case of Arne Johnson that changed American law forever. Some have speculated whether Warren's most famous case, which went on to inspire horror movie The Haunting in Connecticut, will be next on the slate. 

Whatever case the flick is inspired by, one thing is for sure, The Conjuring 4 will be the last movie in the series, as creator Wan told Collider, "We get it right and to make sure the emotion of the Warren stories that we want to tell, and moving into, and potentially wrapping up, we just want to make sure that it's the right thing, the right story that we're telling.”

The Conjuring: Last Rites does not have a release date at this time. For more, check out our ranking of The Conjuring movies.