The Conjuring: Last Rites – Final Movie, True Story & Release

There’s something about a final chapter that makes even casual fans take notice. When that chapter belongs to Ed and Lorraine Warren, the stakes feel personal. The Conjuring: Last Rites hit theaters on September 5, 2025, wrapping up the main franchise while promising the Conjuring Universe will live on. Here’s what’s actually confirmed—and what’s still up in the air.

Release date: September 5, 2025 ·
Director: Michael Chaves ·
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga ·
Based on: Smurl family haunting ·
Franchise: 9th film in the Conjuring Universe

Seven key details, one pattern: the franchise is wrapping its main arc while keeping its universe alive.

Is The Conjuring: Last Rites the final movie?

Official confirmation from director and studio

• Warner Bros. has positioned the film as “the final case for Ed and Lorraine Warren” (Warner Bros. trailer).
• Wikipedia lists it as the ninth installment in the series and the final main entry (Wikipedia).
• Director Michael Chaves, who also helmed The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, returned to close the Warrens’ arc.

How the Conjuring Universe continues beyond the main series

• Spin-offs like the Annabelle trilogy and The Nun films remain part of the franchise.
• Warner Bros. has not announced an end to the expanded universe, suggesting new standalone projects are likely.

The implication: the finality is real for the main series, but the brand lives on through spin-offs.

Is The Conjuring: Last Rites based on a true story?

The Smurl family haunting case

• Warner Bros. officially states the film is inspired by the true story of the Smurl family haunting in Pennsylvania (Warner Bros.).
• The Smurls reported paranormal activity in their home during the 1980s, which Ed and Lorraine Warren investigated.
• Gateway Film Center notes the story is set in 1986, five years after The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (Gateway Film Center).

How accurately the film portrays the real events

• Like earlier Conjuring films, the movie takes dramatic liberties—characters, timelines, and scares are heightened for cinema.
• The core case details (family, haunting, Warrens’ involvement) are preserved, but specific events are fictionalized.

The pattern: the series has always used real cases as springboards, and Last Rites is no exception.

Is The Conjuring: Last Rites the scariest?

Critical reception and audience reactions

• As of publication, Rotten Tomatoes has not yet published a Critics Consensus or audience score for the film (Rotten Tomatoes).
• Early social media reactions describe the film as “intense” and “atmospheric,” but no aggregate data exists.
• Subjectivity makes “scariest” claims difficult: what frightens one viewer may not affect another.

Comparison to previous Conjuring films

• The first Conjuring (2013) still holds a 86% Rotten Tomatoes score and is widely considered the series’ peak.
• Last Rites has not yet demonstrated critical consensus, leaving its ranking unclear.

The catch: without published scores, any claim about scariest is speculative. The film’s box office—$84 million domestic opening weekend (Box Office Mojo)—suggests strong audience interest, but scariness is not measured in dollars.

Is Conjuring Last Rites a flop?

Box office performance vs. production budget

• The film earned $84,006,121 domestically in its opening weekend (Box Office Mojo).
• Worldwide gross has passed $499 million (Box Office Mojo).
• Production budget figures are not yet publicly available from major sources, but typical Conjuring budgets run $20–40 million, making this a likely profitable entry.

Critical and audience scores

• Rotten Tomatoes has not published a score (Rotten Tomatoes).
• IMDb also lacks a user rating as of writing.

What this means: based on box office alone, the film is far from a flop. The $499M worldwide gross puts it in the same league as The Conjuring 2 ($320M) and The Nun ($366M). A flop would require a sub-$100M global return.

How long did Lorraine live after Ed died?

Ed Warren’s death in 2006

• Ed Warren, the real-life demonologist portrayed by Patrick Wilson, died in 2006 at age 79 (Wikipedia – Ed and Lorraine Warren).

Lorraine Warren’s life and death in 2019

• Lorraine Warren lived until 2019, passing away at 92 (Wikipedia).
• She survived Ed by 13 years (Wikipedia).

The implication: Lorraine’s longer life allowed her to continue their work and appear in interviews, cementing the legacy that the films draw from.

The Conjuring franchise timeline

Four key releases, one trajectory: from breakout hit to a nine-film universe.

• 2013 – The Conjuring released, launching the main franchise.
• 2016 – The Conjuring 2 released.
• 2021 – The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It released.
• 2025 – The Conjuring: Last Rites released, final main installment.

The pattern: each film expanded the mythology, but Last Rites closes the Warrens’ chapter while the broader universe remains active.

For horror fans awaiting review aggregates, the picture remains incomplete. What is clear: the film’s box office success and final-franchise status guarantee it a notable place in the Conjuring legacy. For Warner Bros., the decision to end the main series while continuing spin-offs is a calculated bet: close one chapter, open another.

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Frequently asked questions

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