Movies
Nightmarish ‘The Conjuring 2’ Concept Art Shows Alternate Crooked Man Designs
If this year gave rise to a new horror icon, it was definitely The Crooked Man.
There may not be a single filmmaker who so effortlessly creates terrifying new villains the way James Wan does, and this year’s hit sequel The Conjuring 2 is certainly home to no shortage of them. The film’s demonic nun is already getting her own spinoff, simply titled The Nun, but it was The Crooked Man who really worked his way into my own personal nightmares.
Inspired by the English nursery rhyme, first published way back in 1842, The Crooked Man is undoubtedly one of the most unsettling movie monsters to come along in recent years – and if you thought he was a digital creation, think again. As we recently told you, the character was brought to life not by CGI but rather by otherworldly creature performer Javier Botet, and his short-but-terrifying appearance was enough to ensure that a Crooked Man spinoff is likely in our future.
As of August 30th, The Conjuring 2 is now available for digital purchase, and it’s headed to DVD and Blu-ray on September 13th. One of the featurettes, titled “Creating Crooked,” will likely explore the creation and execution of The Crooked Man, but why wait until then? To whet your appetite, we’ve uncovered some early concept art that we think you’re going to get a kick out of.
CG designer Jared Krichevsky worked with James Wan as the concept artist on The Conjuring 2, and over on his blog, he recently showed off several different Crooked Man concepts that he whipped up. Krichevsky, who also worked on Krampus, Stranger Things, and the upcoming re-adaptation of Stephen King’s It, noted that Wan’s initial vision for the character was that he’d have a “half-moon face.”
“The Conjuring 2 was a great pleasure to work on and I love the way [The Crooked Man] turned out in the movie as well,” the artist wrote on his blog. “As a huge fan of his work I really learned a lot in getting notes from James Wan; he really enjoyed the exploration process and was open to letting the character evolve.”
“The movie turned out brilliant and I hope to see a Crooked Man spinoff at some point,” he added.
You and us both, sir.
Check out the early Crooked Man concept art below!
Paramount is heading to Sleepy Hollow with a brand new feature film take on the classic Headless Horseman tale, with Lindsey Anderson Beer (Pet Sematary: Bloodlines) announced to direct the movie back in 2022. But is that project still happening, now two years later?
The Hollywood Reporter lets us know this afternoon that Paramount Pictures has renewed its first-look deal with Lindsey Anderson Beer, and one of the projects on the upcoming slate is the aforementioned Sleepy Hollow movie that was originally announced two years ago.
THR details, “Additional projects on the development slate include… Sleepy Hollow with Anderson Beer attached to write, direct, and produce alongside Todd Garner of Broken Road.”
You can learn more about the slate over on The Hollywood Reporter. It also includes a supernatural thriller titled Here Comes the Dark from the writers of Don’t Worry Darling.
The origin of all things Sleepy Hollow is of course Washington Irving’s story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” which was first published in 1819. Tim Burton adapted the tale for the big screen in 1999, that film starring Johnny Depp as main character Ichabod Crane.
More recently, the FOX series “Sleepy Hollow” was also based on Washington Irving’s tale of Crane and the Headless Horseman. The series lasted four seasons, cancelled in 2017.
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