Person-by-person, we’re gradually learning the names of the actors who make up the cast of director David Gordon Green’s sequel to the 1973 classic The Exorcist (watch it HERE), which is scheduled to reach theatres on October 13th. We’ve previously heard that the cast includes original Exorcist star Ellen Burstyn reprising the role of Chris MacNeil; Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton) as a character who tracks down Chris MacNeil after his child becomes possessed; Lidya Jewett (Nightbooks), Jennifer Nettles (The Righteous Gemstones), Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale), and newcomer Olivia Marcum in unspecified roles; and Raphael Sbarge (Carnosaur) as a pastor. Now Deadline reports that Okwui Okpokwasili is also in the cast. Details on her character have not been revealed.
As Deadline informs, “Okpokwasili is a multidisciplinary artist who also recently signed on to star alongside Kathryn Hahn and Aubrey Plaza in the WandaVision spinoff series Agatha: Coven of Chaos. The actress has previously been seen in Mariama Diallo’s Sundance-premiering Regina Hall pic Master, Josephine Decker‘s acclaimed indie Madeline’s Madeline, the post-apocalyptic Will Smith starrer I Am Legend, and NBC’s The Blacklist. She also starred in the 2022 Broadway revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf and was the Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Studio’s first artist-in-residence at MoMA that same year.”
Green recently directed a trilogy of sequels in the Halloween franchise, and intends for this Exorcist movie to be the first in another trilogy of sequels that he will direct. He crafted the story for The Exorcist 2023 with Peter Sattler (Broken Diamonds), then wrote the screenplay with Danny McBride (who wrote all three of the new Halloweens with him) and their Halloween Kills co-writer Scott Teems. Story details are being kept under wraps.
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, McBride, and Couper Samuelson serve as executive producers. Ryan Turek is overseeing the project for Blumhouse.
Are you interested in David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist, and what do you think of the cast he has assembled? Let us know by leaving a comment below.