In pre-holiday horror news that’s sure to make your head spin, Blumhouse is developing a sequel to The Exorcist that is slated to be directed by David Gordon Green, who is also behind the company’s new Halloween trilogy.
The Observer broke the news, reporting that Blumhouse has teamed with Morgan Creek on the project, which was first mentioned back in August as part of a Deadline story about Morgan Creek teaming with Amazon on a series remake of Dead Ringers.
Jason Blum will produce alongside Morgan Creek‘s James Robinson and David Robinson, and though Deadline initially claimed that the new Exorcist movie was aiming for a 2021 release, that may be a tad optimistic. Green is still in talks, and the Observer says it remains unclear whether it’ll be the director’s next feature following his two Halloween sequels.
Personally, I hope the director manages to sneak in a smaller, more personal project after those Halloween movies, as I loved Green‘s drama Stronger starring Jake Gyllenhaal and would love to see him make more movies like that. Of course, I was also a big fan of 2018’s Halloween, so if Green has come up with a way to breathe new life into the moribund Exorcist franchise, then I’m all for it, because that’s a great IP that’s just sitting there, waiting for a fresh take.
Directed by William Friedkin, the original 1973 film followed the demonic possession of Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), a 12-year-old girl whose mother (Ellen Burstyn) recruits a pair of priests (Jason Miller and Max von Sydow) to battle an entity known simply as Pazuzu. The Exorcist was nominated for Best Picture and spawned four follow-up films, and though the franchise has collectively grossed more than $520 million worldwide, Friedkin is not expected to be involved in this new project.
Green‘s next Michael Myers movie, Halloween Kills, will carve up theaters on Oct. 15, 2021 while Halloween Ends is slated for release on Oct. 14, 2022. The 2018 installment grossed more than $255 million worldwide, so it’s easy to see why Blumhouse would want to be back in business with Green, and why Morgan Creek would want to team up with Blumhouse on this particular project. When it comes to horror, Blum and his team simply have the genre expertise. That said, if Morgan Creek wants to reboot The Crush, they should call me, not Jason.
Speaking of Blumhouse, the company is also mounting a remake of Firestarter that will star Zac Efron, and that’s one Stephen King adaptation for which I’m especially excited, as the original left room for improvement.
via Collider