Annabelle is a 2014 American supernatural horror film directed by John R. Leonetti, written by Gary Dauberman and produced by Peter Safran and James Wan. It is a prequel to the 2013 film The Conjuring and the second installment in The Conjuring Universe franchise. The film was inspired by a story of a doll named Annabelle told by Ed and Lorraine Warren. The film stars Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, and Alfre Woodard. A spin-off focusing on the origins of the Annabelle doll that was introduced in The Conjuring was announced shortly after The Conjurings release, mainly due to its worldwide box office success and the positive reception towards the depiction of the doll. Principal photography began in January 2014 in Los Angeles. Annabelle premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on September 29, 2014, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 3, 2014, by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema. Annabelle received negative reviews from critics, many of whom felt the film inferior to its predecessor, praise for atmosphere but it was a major box office success, grossing over $257million against its $6.5million production budget. A prequel, titled Annabelle: Creation, was released on August 11, 2017. A sequel, titled Annabelle Comes Home, was released on June 26, 2019. Plot In Santa Monica, California, John Form, a doctor, presents his expectant wife Mia with a rare vintage porcelain doll as a gift for their first child to be placed in a collection of dolls in their daughter's nursery. That night, the couple is disturbed by the sounds of their next door neighbors, the Higgins, being murdered during a home invasion. While Mia calls the police, she and John are attacked by the Higgins' killers. The police arrive and shoot one killer, a man, dead while the female killer kills herself by slitting her throat inside the nursery while holding the doll. News reports identify the assailants as the Higgins' estranged daughter, Annabelle, and her unidentified boyfriend, both members of a cult. In the days following the attack, a series of paranormal activities occur around the Forms' residence. Afterwards, Mia gives birth to a healthy baby girl. She and John name their child Leah. The family rents an apartment in Pasadena and, after finding the doll that John had discarded since Annabelle's previous attack in one of their boxes, another set of paranormal events plague Mia