Michael Chaves is the American director who took over the Conjuring Universe and closed the Warrens’ story.
Quick Specs
- Born: 3 November 1984
- Known for: The Curse of La Llorona, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, The Nun II, The Conjuring: Last Rites
- Occupations: Director, screenwriter, producer, editor, visual effects artist
- Years active: 2009–present
Overview
Michael Chaves is the commercials director who made a nine-minute haunted-house short, got discovered by the Conjuring Universe team, and ended up directing four of its films — including two mothership sequels and the finale. His four features grossed about $1.10 billion worldwide combined on about $141.5 million in production budgets. He is the only director besides James Wan ever handed a mainline Conjuring film.
The Life
Michael Chaves was born 3 November 1984. He grew up in California. He grew up on horror: his favorite Disneyland ride is the Haunted Mansion, and his childhood fear-images were the dark, the outside, and the drainpipe with Pennywise in it. No film school: he came up directing commercials, cutting his own shorts, and doing VFX for other people’s web series.
The Work
Before features, Chaves ran a series. Chase Champion (2015) was one of Nickelodeon’s first original digital-only series for Nick.com: 11 short episodes he created, directed, and wrote, about a kid who gains video-game powers from an old cartridge. It proved he could run a show and deliver effects-heavy kid-in-peril material on schedule.
Then came the nine minutes that changed his life. The Maiden (2016) is a haunted-house short built backwards from its ending: a real-estate agent, Lucy, trying to sell a mansion that does not want buyers. It won the Best Super Short Horror Film Award at Shriekfest 2016, circulated online, and the La Llorona producers were, in Gary Dauberman’s words, “bowled over by it.” Inspired by The Conjuring itself; his influences: Kubrick, Wan, Raimi.
The Curse of La Llorona (2019) was his feature debut — director only; the screenplay is by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis, and Chaves has no writing credit on any of his four features. Set in 1973 Los Angeles, it follows Anna Tate-Garcia (Linda Cardellini), a widowed social worker whose children are cursed by La Llorona. $123.2 million on a $9 million budget. The film takes place in the Conjuring Universe but is not considered an installment. Chaves added two of its most-remembered scares himself — the car scene and the umbrella scene. The monster was a performance: Marisol Ramirez, cast for a “savage quality.”
In October 2018, before the debut even opened, Wan tapped Chaves for The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), the seventh installment and the first mothership film not directed by Wan. Based on the 1981 trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson — the first U.S. murder defense to plead demonic possession — it follows the Warrens (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) from a failed exorcism through a murder and an investigation. The pitch was “Se7en, but in the Conjuring universe,” and the film opens with the climax and has it go horribly wrong. Released 4 June 2021 after a COVID-19 delay; $206.4 million on a $39 million budget.
The Nun II (2023), the eighth installment and a direct sequel to Corin Hardy’s The Nun (2018), sent him to France. Set in 1956, it follows Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) to Tarascon, where priests and nuns are being murdered, and to Maurice (Jonas Bloquet), unknowingly carrying Valak — and to the Eyes of St. Lucy, the relic the demon hunts. Opened 8 September 2023; $269.5 million on a $38.5 million budget. Its signature set piece, the newsstand, came from 1950s French street photography: he wanted the Nun to manifest inside a newsstand, and got a “go with God” before he knew how to build it — printed magazines mechanically rigged to turn in tandem. It was his first idea and his last finished shot. The approach secretly spells out V-A-L-A-K.
The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025) was the finale he was hired to land — the ninth installment, the fourth mothership film, and his first executive-producer credit on one of his own features. Based on the Smurl haunting in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, it weaves in a second real Warren case: an antique mirror. The mirror was not in the Smurl house, Chaves has said plainly — it belongs to another case, and the film weaves the two together. A 1964 prologue shows the Warrens investigating the mirror; in 1986 the Smurl family acquires it, and the demon hunting Judy makes its final attempt, ending with her wedding. The brief: end it on their own terms. His model was Logan; the theme was “letting go.” His pick for best scare: the dressing-room mirrors. Released 5 September 2025; about $499 million on a $55 million budget — the highest-grossing film in the series. Wan’s verdict: “He’s technically made more Conjuring movies than I have.”
After Last Rites came comics: Corpse Knight, announced January 2026, a six-issue Skybound / Image miniseries written by Chaves about a girl, Foy, whose father returns from the dead to protect her. In March 2026 he was reported signed to direct the creature feature Yeti.
The Chaves Touch
Chaves builds the scare in the room. Practical first, digital last — the closest thing he has to a declared signature, stated on every film: real performances, real makeup, real rigs, VFX only to clean up or rescue. His films are set-piece first: The Maiden was reverse-engineered from its ending, La Llorona’s car and umbrella scares were his additions to the script, and the Nun II newsstand was his first idea. After his debut came the sound lesson: most of his best ideas were auditory in origin, and going forward, “the sound is where you start.” His homage is admitted and specific: the Evil Dead lift, Poltergeist, Logan. By Last Rites, patience was the lesson: confidence in the scare, and the patience to let the tension cook.
Why He Matters
Chaves is the director the Conjuring Universe trusted with its crown jewels. He is the only director besides Wan to helm the mothership — and he did it twice, then closed the Warrens’ story with the franchise’s biggest hit. The discovery story is the modern horror pipeline in its purest form: a commercials director makes a nine-minute short, the short wins at Shriekfest and circulates online, the producers are bowled over, and he is offered the flagship before his debut even opens. He closed the Wilson / Farmiga era in a film designed as an ending — modeled on Logan, centered on Judy, received by test audiences as “full circle” — and he did it at a profit.
Trivia & Facts
- The Maiden won the Best Super Short Horror Film Award at Shriekfest 2016 — and got him discovered.
- He was offered The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It in October 2018 — before La Llorona had even opened.
- The La Llorona umbrella scare came from his own neurosis: umbrellas scare him “because of the metal tips. I always feel like they’re going to go into my eye.”
- The approach to the Nun II newsstand secretly spells out V-A-L-A-K.
- The Last Rites mirror was not in the Smurl house — it belongs to a different real Warren case, woven into the film by design.
FAQ
Who is Michael Chaves?
An American director behind four Conjuring Universe films — La Llorona, The Devil Made Me Do It, The Nun II, and Last Rites — plus the short The Maiden.
How did Michael Chaves get the Conjuring job?
His nine-minute short The Maiden won at Shriekfest 2016 and circulated online; the La Llorona producers were bowled over by it, hired him for the debut, and offered him the flagship sequel before the debut even opened.
Is The Conjuring: Last Rites really the last Conjuring movie?
It was billed and made as the final chapter of the Warrens’ story — the final Wilson / Farmiga Warren film. A prequel, The Conjuring: First Communion, is scheduled for 10 September 2027, so the universe itself goes on.
What is Michael Chaves’s best film?
Last Rites for the farewell, The Devil Made Me Do It for the swing, The Nun II for the newsstand. Start with La Llorona, the debut that started it all.