After speculation arose earlier this month, it’s now been confirmed Doctor Sleep’s Mike Flanagan is helming a new The Exorcist movie. What’s more, it won’t be The Exorcist Deceiver as Blumhouse’s Exorcist Trilogy plans have been scrapped.
Flanagan will add to his roster of horror author adaptations by tackling a standalone movie based on the world of William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist. Blumhouse promises a “radical new take” on the source material, and Flanagan will also write and produce the movie.
Mike Flanagan is honored to tackle The Exorcist
Flanagan said in a press release, ”The Exorcist is one of the reasons I became a filmmaker, and it is an honor to have the chance to try something fresh, bold, and terrifying within its universe.”
David Gordon Green was supposed to launch The Exorcist Trilogy with last year’s The Exorcist Believer. Unfortunately, it took a critical beating, and its box office was dwarfed by stablemate Five Nights at Freddy’s, which was streaming day and date with its theatrical release. Green then walked away from directing the sequel.
Universal and Blumhouse bought the rights to The Exorcist from Morgan Creek for $400m in 2021. Clearly, the reputational and financial damage caused by The Exorcist Believer makes it sensible to start over with a standalone movie. Flanagan’s reputation as a director of horror will no doubt help how another stab at the Exorcist is viewed.
Mike Flanagan has been behind a host of modern horror gems on our screens, big and small. His run on Netflix with shows such as The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass cemented his status in the genre. More importantly, making a follow-up to both Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick’s versions of The Shining in one film (Doctor Sleep) is great practice for taking The Exorcist on. The well-warranted acclaim Wiliam Fridekin’s 1973 classic The Exorcist gets makes every follow-up an uphill struggle.
