Director David Gordon Green’s sequel to the 1973 classic The Exorcist (watch it HERE) – the first in what Green intends to be a trilogy of Exorcist sequels – had to begin its holiday break early in December when lead actor Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton) ran into an unspecified health issue and wasn’t able to continue working. But filming has since resumed, and cinematographer Michael Simmonds said a couple weeks ago that the movie was already 90% complete. As Green’s Exorcist heads into its final days of production, Deadline has revealed that Lidya Jewett (Nightbooks) is part of the cast.
Universal and Peacock paid an amount somewhere in the range of $400 million to acquire the rights to distribute this new Exorcist trilogy. Coming to us from Blumhouse Productions and Morgan Creek Entertainment, the films are being produced by Jason Blum, David Robinson, and James Robinson. Green, Danny McBride, and Couper Samuelson serve as executive producers. Ryan Turek is overseeing the project for Blumhouse.
Green crafted the story for The Exorcist 2023 with Peter Sattler (Broken Diamonds), then wrote the screenplay with McBride (who wrote all three of the new Halloweens with him) and their Halloween Kills co-writer Scott Teems.
Original Exorcist star Ellen Burstyn reprises the role of Chris MacNeil in the film – and was at the center of eight days of filming that already took place in 2021. (As both she and Green have confirmed.) Burstyn, Odom, and Jewett are joined in the cast by Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale). Details are being kept under wraps, but we do know that Odom is playing a character who tracks down Chris MacNeil after his child becomes possessed.
Given that Jewett just turned 16 last month, there is a chance she could be playing the possessed child.
Green’s The Exorcist is scheduled to be released on October 13, 2023. Are you looking forward to seeing how this one turns out? Let us know by leaving a comment below. I can’t say the idea of Green directing a trilogy of Exorcist sequels has me hyped, but I’m hoping for the best.