Usually, it’s the director looking to push the boundaries on a given film. With The Nun II, it was the audience who demanded a more extreme version of the movie.
“People wanted more violence,” director Michael Chaves told EW, with a laugh. “There was already a good degree of violence and gore in the movie, but people wanted more of it. So, we did a little bit of additional photography and we ramped that up. It just goes to show how audiences are always changing, evolving. Even in the earliest version, it was more [violent] than what was in your traditional Conjuring movie. I think horror audiences have been on this journey, this horror renaissance, where they’ve seen a lot of horror movies, they’ve seen a lot of violence. It’s something they wanted more of and we gladly gave it.”
Looks like the extra work paid off. The Nun 2 did an estimated $13M yesterday on its way to what looks to be a $31M-$34M opening at 3,728 theaters. These numbers do not come from Warner Bros. and they’re on the high end of projections.
Chaves is not unfamiliar with the genre, having directed The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, The Curse of La Llorona and now The Nun II in the past five years.
From a script by Akela Cooper, The Nun II picks up in 1956 following the murder of a priest. The sequel follows Sister Irene (Farmiga) as she once again comes face-to-face with the demon Valak, played by Bonnie Aarons. Jonas Bloquet also reprises his role as Maurice. Reid stars with Farmiga as a new character, along with Katelyn Rose Downey as Sophie and Anna Popplewell as Marcella.