It’s a match made in heaven … or is it hell? Muahahahaha! (ominous thunder clash) Deadline is reporting that Chad and Carey Hayes, writers of The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, are trying to get a new fact-based horror franchise off the ground. This one will be set in the infamous LaLaurie Mansion, the site of horrific abuse of enslaved people by Delphine LaLaurie. Maybe not the classiest thing to base a horror movie off of, but then again neither are the Warrens (allegedly). Saw franchise director Darren Lynn Bousman is attached to direct. Bousman has helmed four Saw movies, including this year’s Spiral, which revived the franchise. The Hayes bros worked with the original Saw director, James Wan, when creating the Conjuringverse.
“The Hayes Brothers have written the film’s screenplay in the house,” Deadline reports, “and the production will shoot portions of the film on-site as well, despite public access not being possible since 1932.” The LaLaurie Mansion was depicted in season 3 of American Horror Story, the New Orleans-set “Coven” arc. Delphine LaLaurie was played by Kathy Bates, and her abuse of enslaved people was shown in graphic detail. Firefighters discovered LaLaurie’s crimes in 1834, which prompted New Orleans citizens to loot the mansion. Delphine fled into the night, never to be seen again. The mansion was owned briefly by Nicolas Cage, from 2007-2009. He told Vanity Fair he bought the property in order to write the great American horror novel there, although those plans didn’t work out. At least the Hayes Brothers got something out of it.
