The Conjuring 2 director James Wan has told TEN that it wasn't his suggestion to have the supernatural chiller's set blessed by a Catholic priest before filming began - but he wishes he had come up with the idea.
At 6:45am on September 21 last year - 15 minutes before production began - Fr Steven Sanchez of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico began a blessing of the Conjuring 2 set at the Warner Bros lot in Burbank, California and also offered to bless anyone in attendance.
#TheConjuring2 filming began bright and early this morning with a priest blessing the set! pic.twitter.com/nm3jSuOtU3
— New Line Cinema (@NewLine_Cinema) September 22, 2015
Fr Sanchez is a close friend of demonologist Lorraine Warren, who is played in The Conjuring by Vera Farmiga, and had been invited to the set by the sequel's producers.
Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as Lorraine and Ed Warren in The Conjuring 2
"When I showed up on set and there was a priest there, I was like, 'Oh wow, this is very fitting - fitting to the world of The Conjuring'," Wan told TEN.
James Wan on the set of The Conjuring 2
The sequel to Wan's 2013 box office hit finds Lorraine Warren and husband Ed (Patrick Wilson) travelling to London in 1977 to investigate the infamous 'Enfield Poltergeist' case at the request of the Catholic Church. In September 2015, Fr Sanchez visited every room on set before the cameras started rolling.
Wan said he welcomed the "more positive energy" of having Fr Sanchez around before he shouted 'action!'. "Film sets can be quite difficult and tough to begin with," he laughed.
Read our review of The Conjuring 2 here.
