Mike Flanagan in Talks to Take Over The Exorcist Franchise for Blumhouse
The Midnight Mass creator would spearhead a new story for the horror saga.
One of the most iconic horror franchises of all time might be getting another relaunch. According to a new report from Jeff Sneider, Midnight Mass and The Fall of the House of Usher creator Mike Flanagan is currently in talks to spearhead the next Exorcist movie, which is in the works at Blumhouse and Universal Pictures. While it was initially believed that Flanagan would be directing the second and third installments in the proposed trilogy already teased by Blumhouse, the report indicates that Flanagan is being brought in specifically to create his own story. This comes after last fall’s release of David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer, which underperformed at the box office and was met with a mixed critical response.
“My intention is just to start making things, and as those plans come together, if I find myself in that [The Exorcist: Deceiver] director’s chair, I’d be thrilled,” Green previously said of returning to the franchise. “But right now, I’m navigating it from a story perspective and looking at my realities of life as I pivot.”
As the report outlines, this pivot would allow Universal and Blumhouse to deliver the two additional Exorcist movies that they originally signed up for, without necessarily being impacted by Believer‘s bad reception. The studios initially partnered together in 2021 on a $400 million distribution deal on a new Exorcist trilogy, with the second and third installments potentially being exclusive to Universal’s Peacock streaming service.
What Is The Exorcist: Believer About?
In 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, see out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like this before: Chris MacNeil. The film also stars Emmy winner Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale, Hereditary) as Victor and Angela’s neighbor, and Grammy winner Jennifer Nettles (Harriet, The Righteous Gemstones) and two-time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz (Fosse/Verdon, Bloodline) as the parents of Katherine, Angela’s friend.
“Well, it’s fun. We had a road map that thought, ‘You know, if the world will embrace what we’re making here, then we’ll keep it going,'” Green previously told ComicBook.com of the prospect of a sequel. “So we have a nice road map, and then once we got into production, the movie took on a life of its own, and we took some detours on that road. But I’m excited that if this movie is well received and we can keep them cranking, we got some new avenues to explore.”
