Tales From The Box Office: 10 Years Ago, The Conjuring Kicked Off The Biggest Non-Marvel Cinematic Universe

(Welcome to Tales from the Box Office, our column that examines box office miracles, disasters, and everything in between, as well as what we can learn from them.)

Cinematic universes are all the rage now but it's easy to forget how recent a phenomenon this actually is. The notion of a cinematic universe didn't really exist until around 2010 when it became clear what Marvel Studios was doing with its various superhero franchises in the lead-up to the record-breaking "The Avengers" in the summer of 2012. Sure, we had Kevin Smith's films making up the View Askewniverse starting with "Clerks" in 1994 — not to mention Universal's monster movie crossovers from decades earlier. Still, once Marvel perfected the model, Hollywood chased it down rabidly. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it fails spectacularly (we're looking at you, Dark Universe). But arguably nobody has done it better this side of Marvel than James Wan and "The Conjuring" universe.

Wan had established himself as an absolute force to be reckoned with in the horror genre by the time his haunted house tale (inspired by the work of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren) hit theaters in 2013. The filmmaker directed the first "Saw," which eventually became a $1 billion franchise, as well as "Insidious," which similarly spawned a behemoth horror series with all of its sequels making big money. Wan's greatest contribution to the genre, however, came when he delivered a paranormal blockbuster for the ages, which paved the way for an entire universe of connected horror tales.

In honor of the recent 10-year anniversary of "The Conjuring," we're looking back at the film, how it came to be following a lengthy development process, the issues it had to overcome on its way to the big screen, what happened when the movie finally hit theaters, and what lessons we can learn from it a decade later. Let's dig in, shall we?

A deal was finally done in November of 2009 and the movie had a real home. Now, it was about finding the right person to bring this spooky tale to life. Enter James Wan. The filmmaker, as mentioned, had turned in some big hits already in his career, but all of those were of the low-budget variety. His only slightly bigger budget play, 2007's "Dead Silence," didn't pan out as it only made $22 million worldwide against a $20 million budget. But with two franchise-generating monster hits under his belt, the man had proven himself. He seemed to be a perfect fit when Warner Bros. and New Line picked Wan to dig into the case files of the Warrens in late 2011.

The difference here is that Wan would be playing in a larger sandbox again as "The Conjuring" would be made on a $20 million budget with the backing of a major studio. They quickly set about casting, with Wan reuniting with Patrick Wilson, whom he worked with on "Insidious," as the actor was cast as Ed Warren. Joining him as Lorraine Warren was Vera Farmiga ("The Departed"). Ron Livingston and the aforementioned Lili Taylor would join as the heads of the Perron family, with Shanley Caswell, Hayley McFarland, Mackenzie Foy, and a young Joey King filling out the core ensemble.

Wan and the studio wasted little time getting things going once the filmmaker entered the picture. Filming kicked off in February 2012 and seemed to go off without a hitch. Wan even filmed in chronological order, which is pretty out of the ordinary for any film, let alone a sizable studio horror flick.

Legal action aside, Warner Bros. and New Line were extremely excited behind the scenes, as several test screenings for the film were through the roof, well beyond expectations. So, in a very, very rare move, the studio decided to push "The Conjuring" to summer 2013, a season typically reserved for bigger blockbusters or family fare. As Variety explained at the time, it would be the first horror movie to open wide in theaters in June or July since "The Omen" in 2006.

Then-Warner Bros. distribution chief Dan Fellman explained, "I said to [New Line Chief Operating Officer] Toby Emmerich, 'Let's take a chance.' Horror movies tend to get bunched together and then drop off quickly, but they don't have to." It was a great show of confidence and one that would prove to be rewarded (more on that in a moment). But they did have one more hurdle to clear in the form of the MPAA.

While it's not uncommon for a horror movie to receive an R rating, we're typically dealing with far more violent movies when that does happen. The studio and Wan were aiming for PG-13 with their take on this real-life haunting, but the MPAA wasn't having it as they gave the film an R "for sequences of disturbing violence and terror." Yes, as silly as it sounds, that R rating was handed out because the movie was just so damn terrifying. "It's just so scary. [There are] no specific scenes or tone you could take out to get it PG-13," producer Walter Hamada said at WonderCon that year. And so, it went to theaters with an R rating, which didn't end up hampering the movie it all.

Studios pretty much always make sequels to successful horror hits. That was never really in question here and yes, we've had two proper "Conjuring" movies in the years since the original, with "The Conjuring 2" hitting theaters in 2016 and doing comparably big business ($310 million worldwide/$40 million budget). But what Warner Bros. and New Line did was think bigger by first creating a spin-off for the creepy doll featured in the first film, "Annabelle." They made quick work of it, with the film hitting theaters in October 2014. The key difference is that critics were largely unimpressed with the spin-off, whereas "The Conjuring" was met with a great deal of praise from critics and audiences alike. It didn't matter.

The good name of "The Conjuring" pushed "Annabelle" to $257 million worldwide against a mere $6.5 million budget. A cinematic universe was born. In the years since, we've also had "Annabelle: Creation," "The Nun," "Annabelle Comes Home," and "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It." There's also been debate as to whether or not 2019's "The Curse of La Llorona" counts as Annabelle makes an appearance. Either way, it was a successful movie ($123 million worldwide/$9 million budget) that sure as heck didn't suffer for its close associations with the franchise.

If we count "La Llorona," "The Conjuring" universe has scared up $2.1 billion at the global box office across eight movies, with a ninth on the way in the form of "The Nun 2" later this year. That movie's prospects are quite good, too, seeing as the original "Nun" is actually the highest-grossing entry in this franchise to date (with $363 million to its name). All of the movies combined have budgets that total less than $180 million, meaning that Warner Bros. has earned more than 10 times its investment (not accounting for marketing). Pound for pound, no cinematic universe that has sprung up over the last decade can touch that success rate. It's really not even all that close.