Green is in talks to direct the horror movie, but don’t be surprised if he tackles a smaller, more personal project first.
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.
Image via Ryan Green/Universal Pictures
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.
Oh boy.
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Jeff Sneider
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Jeff Sneider is the Senior Film Reporter at Collider, where he breaks film and television news and curates the Up-and-Comer of the Month column in addition to hosting The Sneider Cut podcast and the awards-themed series For Your Consideration with Scott Mantz and Perri Nemiroff. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Jeff started his career at Ain’t It Cool News before moving to Los Angeles to write for Variety and later, TheWrap and Mashable. Jeff also served as Editor in Chief of The Tracking Board and has contributed to MTV Movies Blog, Hollywood Life magazine, Washington Square News and the Colorado Springs Independent. His Oscar picks have appeared on the LA Times’ Envelope site, and he agrees with screenwriter William Goldman who famously said of Hollywood, “nobody knows anything.” Jeff hails from Needham, Massachusetts and has never eaten a salad. He can be found on Twitter, Instagram, Cameo and Blogspot by searching his nom de plume @TheInSneider.
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