Although we had heard rumours that Morgan Creek Entertainment was planning on bringing The Exorcist back, I was still surprised when it was announced last week that they would be joining forces with Universal Pictures, NBCU's Peacock streaming service, and Blumhouse Productions for a brand-new trilogy that will serve as a direct sequel to the original. Halloween director David Gordon Green will be helming the new Exorcist trilogy, which will also find Ellen Burstyn reprising her Academy-nominated role of Chris MacNeil.
It was announced today that the first installment of this new Exorcist trilogy will be released on October 13, 2023. The new movies will star Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton) as the father of a possessed child who seeks out the aid of Chris MacNeil (Burstyn), who certainly knows a thing or two about dealing with levitating, pea-soup vomiting, and expletive hurling children. Speaking of possessed children, it doesn't appear as though Linda Blair will be reprising her role of Regan MacNeil, at least not at the moment. Shortly after the announcement, Blair said that although she hasn't had any discussions about returning for the new Exorcist trilogy, she was aware of the project as the producers had reached out before the announcement to let her know.
They were polite enough to call. We spoke about how amazing Ellen Burstyn is and that was as far as the conversation went. I have no idea what the project is about and I have not been engaged in a conversation of participation. It was just letting me know they were going to do the film.
It's going to be exceptionally difficult to follow in the footsteps of the original film, but I said that same thing about Halloween, and David Gordon Green managed to surpass my expectations. I'll keep my fingers crossed. The next installment of Green's Halloween trilogy — Halloween Kills — will debut at the Venice International Film Festival on September 8, 2021, before hitting theaters on October 15, 2021.