There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.
And now this Crooked Man will also walk through the silver screen because what everybody was already expecting has been now confirmed. This creepy character introduced in The Conjuring 2 (2016) just had greenlighted the production of its own spin-off. The tall skinny character, originally played by Javier Botet in the mentioned previous film, will be the center of an upcoming movie which Mike Van Waes as the writer. No director, release date or cast has been announced yet.
The character of The Crooked Man is originally based on an old English nursery rhyme, which first documented recording is dated in 1840. Some say the town of Lavenham is believed to have inspired this rhyme. Others maintain the poem originates from the history of King Charles I of England (1600–1649). The crooked man is reputed to be the Scottish General Sir Alexander Leslie. He signed a covenant securing religious and political freedom for Scotland. The “crooked stile” in the poem was the border between England and Scotland. “They all lived together in a little crooked house” refers to the fact that the English and Scots had, at last, come to an agreement, despite continuing great animosity between the two peoples, who nonetheless had to live with each other due to their common border.
This is not the first time a character born as a secondary asset in The Conjuring series has its own story. The possessed doll from The Conjuring (2013) was the first one to have its own protagonism, with the films Annabelle (2014) and the soon to come up this fall Annabelle 2 (2017). The Nun (2018), which character was first seen in The Conjuring 2 (2016), is currently in production expected to hit theaters next year.
Producer Peter Safran said in an interview last month “I think there’s something fascinating in The Crooked Man. Maybe tonally he’s not as grounded as The Conjuring itself is and maybe that’s why some people felt it wasn’t what they were looking for in The Conjuring but I suspect a movie with him would be really really cool. [..] I love the character, just things like the transformation from the dog into The Crooked Man and the way he walked. I just love what that character can be. We have some interesting ideas for him. So we’ll see”. After these words, it’s easy to see how The Crooked Man was going to be the next character from The Conjuring series to walk by its own.
If you haven’t see The Crooked Man yet, check him out in The Conjuring 2 (2016). Watch the trailer here:
