EXCLUSIVE: Matthias Schweighöfer, the German actor known for the likes of Oppenheimer and Netflix’s Army of Thieves, is set for a role in New Line horror prequel The Conjuring: First Communion.
No word on the role to be played by Schweighöfer. Most recently, we learned that Garrett Wareing and Amanda Fix are leading the film as young versions of Ed and Lorraine Warren, the married paranormal investigators played throughout the franchise by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga.
Plot details for the latest installment in The Conjuring Universe — the highest grossing horror franchise of all time at more than $2.7 billion in global box office— are being kept under wraps. First Communion follows Last Rites, which last year became the highest-grossing film in the series at more than $499 million worldwide.
Hired off a short film, Rodrigue Huart is directing New Line’s Conjuring prequel from a script by Richard Naing & Ian Goldberg. Peter Safran is producing, with John Rickard, Natalia Safran and Romel Adam exec producing. Pic is slated for release September 10, 2027.
Schweighöfer is known for directing and starring in Netflix’s Army of Thieves, a prequel to Zack Snyder’s zombie flick Army of the Dead, in which he also starred. Other credits include Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, on which he played German physicist Werner Heisenberg; Netflix’s Heart of Stone; Pixar’s Elio; and the first German-language Amazon Original series You Are Wanted to name a few.
Recently, Schweighöfer starred in the German sci-fi thriller Brick, which reached the No. 1 film position on Netflix worldwide and in 59 countries within 24 hours of release, remaining there for two weeks. He recently wrapped a role opposite Walton Goggins in the action-comedy Mister and will also be seen coming up in Jaume Collet-Serra’s WWII-era psychological thriller Play Dead, produced by Sam Raimi.
He is repped by UTA and Untitled.
