'The Nun 2' Set To Haunt 'Luke Cage' Writer Akela Cooper

While The Nun was critically slammed, there's no denying the dollar signs that appeared in New Line Cinema's eyes when the Conjuring spin-off made $365 million worldwide. A sequel was an inevitability. It was just a matter of when, and who would be involved.

Now we know at least one name. The Nun 2 is moving forward, with screenwriter Akela Cooper set to write the script. She may not be a household name, but she's cut her teeth on plenty of genre projects before this, so she has the bonafides to help us care about the people populating the screen between the jump scares.

Deadline has the news of Cooper's hiring, and it makes sense when you consider that her upcoming projects include the killer doll horror movie M3gan, which is being produced by Conjuring Universe godfather James Wan. Cooper's other work includes the surprisingly good slasher flick Hell Fest and genre television shows like Luge Cage, American Horror Story, Grimm, and The 100.

Plus, it's rare to see a woman write a major studio horror film, let alone a woman of color. This is what we like to call "a good thing," which are seemingly in short supply these days. The more diverse talent we have making horror movies, the stronger the genre becomes. Just look the success of Wan himself, who built a formula that has grossed $1.5 billion worldwide.

While critical reception to The Nun was mostly negative, I remain a big fan (There are dozens of us! Dozens!) of what director Corin Hardy did with the first movie. While it followed the basic pattern established by other movies in the Conjuring-verse, including plenty of those jump scares, I genuinely dug the evocative period setting, the Hammer-inspired sets, and the final act that felt like a Dungeons & Dragons game gone to hell. It's not clear if Hardy will be back or not, but since Annabelle: Creation is widely considered to be far superior to the first Annabelle and The Conjuring 2 proved to be on par with the first, you can imagine everyone involved working overtime to make sure this one pleases more people.

For now, the Conjuring-verse stops for no one. The Curse of La Llorona hits theaters soon (and it is, unfortunately, the worst film in the series so far) and Annabelle Comes Home arrives later this summer. In the meantime, let's see where and when Cooper and Co. decide the Nun should strike next.