Universal Pictures and Peacock forked over an amount somewhere in the range of $400 million to acquire the rights to distribute a trilogy of sequels to the 1973 classic The Exorcist, which we’re going to another collaboration between Blumhouse Productions and director David Gordon Green (who recently delivered a trilogy of Halloween sequels), they were definitely expecting the first entry in the new trilogy to go over better with audiences than The Exorcist: Believer did when it was released last October. (You can read our 4/10 review HERE.) The box office numbers were okay, the movie pulled in $137 million on a $30 million budget, but Universal was hoping for a lot better than “okay,” and viewer reactions were largely negative. Soon after the release of Believer, we heard that Universal and Blumhouse still intended to carry out the trilogy, but the follow-ups would be reworked – and Green had left the project. Now it looks like they’ve found the director who will be taking Green’s place on the next sequel, as Deadline reports that Mike Flanagan is in talks to direct the film.
Flanagan has a strong following in the horror community, as his previous credits include Absentia, Oculus, Hush, Before I Wake, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Gerald’s Game, The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, and The Fall of the House of Usher. He just finished post-production on his latest Stephen King adaption, the non-horror film The Life of Chuck.
While Universal and Blumhouse still expect to make two more Exorcist movies beyond The Exorcist: Believer, Deadline wasn’t able to find out if Flanagan is in negotiations to direct both of those films or just one. At one time, the first sequel had been given the title The Exorcist: Deceiver and it was scheduled to reach theatres on April 18, 2025, but it was removed from Universal’s release schedule when The Exorcist: Believer turned out to be a disappointment. So Flanagan won’t have to aim for a release date that’s just eleven months away. On his Letterboxd profile, Flanagan has both the original The Exorcist and The Exorcist III on his list of favorite horror movies.
Green had already worked out the screenplay for The Exorcist: Deceiver before he ditched the trilogy, but whatever he had planned was likely scrapped in favor of re-developing and trying to deliver an Exorcist movie that audiences will like better than Believer. After Green left, producer Jason Blum even said he had “no idea” what the next sequel is going to be. Now they’re turning to Flanagan to answer that question for them.
What do you think of the idea of Mike Flanagan directing the next Exorcist sequel? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
I didn’t like what David Gordon Green did with his Halloween trilogy, so I had no interest in his Exorcist trilogy. A Mike Flanagan Exorcist sequel? Now that’s something I’m interested in seeing.