Can the man behind The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass and The Fall of the House of Usher get The Exorcist franchise back on track? We wouldn't bet against him!
The Exorcist: Believer proved to be a massive disappointment for fans of William Friedkin's original masterpiece, and while it did actually perform reasonably well at the box office, it didn't make enough of an impact for the studios to commit to continuing that particular story.
Shortly after the movie hit theaters, we learned that director David Gordon Green had decided not to helm the next instalment in the planned trilogy, The Exorcist: Deceiver, but that Blumhouse and Universal Pictures still planned to forge ahead with the follow-up.
A recent report claimed that none other than Mike Flanagan was in talks to helm the next Exorcist movie, and it's now been made official.
Flanagan has signed on to write, direct and produce what’s described as a “radical new take” on The Exorcist for Blumhouse and Morgan Creek.
“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,” Flanagan stated. “Reuniting with my friends at Blumhouse, with whom I’ve made some of my favorite pieces of work, only makes this more exciting.”
Flanagan has Stephen King adaptation The Life of Chuck on the way, and has previously helmed the likes of The Fall of the House of Usher Doctor Sleep, Gerald’s Game, Ouija: Origin of Evil, The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass.
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"Exactly 50 years ago this fall, the most terrifying horror film in history landed on screens, shocking audiences around the world. Now, on Friday, October 13, a new chapter begins. From Blumhouse and director David Gordon Green, who shattered the status quo with their resurrection of the Halloween franchise, comes The Exorcist: Believer.
Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding (Tony winner and Oscar nominee Leslie Odom, Jr.; One Night in Miami, Hamilton) has raised their daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett, Good Girls) on his own. But when Angela and her friend Katherine (newcomer Olivia Marcum), disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil."
The Exorcist: Believer also stars Ann Dowd as Victor and Angela’s neighbor, and Jennifer Nettles and Norbert Leo Butz as the parents of Katherine, Angela’s friend.