The lackluster theatrical release of The Exorcist: Believer in October 2023, questioned the future of the new trilogy inspired by the horror franchise The Exorcistof Blumhouse y Universal Pictures.
Believer was directed by David Gordon Green, and although it was initially planned that he himself would be in charge of directing the entire trilogy, last January it was revealed that Green's schedule commitments with the filming of Nutcrackers and the fourth season of The Righteous Gemstonesled him to abandon directing the second installment, officially titled The Exorcist: Deceiver, whose premiere, which had been set for April 18, 2025, was then discarded from Universal's calendar.
A few weeks later, the producer Jason Blum of Blumhouse, announced that the original plan would be restructured, ensuring that: “We're definitely going to make another Exorcist movie, but I wanted more time to figure out what it would be. “I have no idea what it’s going to be yet.”
New plans have apparently been drawn up, as Deadline reports that Mike Flanagan is in negotiations to join as director of the next installment of the trilogy The Exorcist from Blumhouse and Universal Pictures, which would effectively be, The Exorcist: Deceiver.
The source does not know if the agreement with Flanagan would be to direct the remaining two films, or only Deceiver.
Flanagan is a prominent filmmaker in the horror genre, with feature films under his belt such as Doctor Sleep, Gerald’s Game, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Hushy Oculusalso created horror series for Netflix such as The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Massy The Fall of the House of Usher. He is currently in post-production on The Life of Chuckfilm adaptation of Stephen King's novel.
Importantly, Universal and Blumhouse paid Morgan Creek $400 million to acquire the rights to the horror franchise in July 2021, and placed high expectations on the launch of a new trilogy.
The first installment of the trilogy, titled in our country as The Exorcist: Believers It is a reboot/sequel to the original classic The Exorcist from 1973, which featured the return of Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil. Unfortunately, it failed to consolidate itself either at the box office or with critics, accumulating a global total of $136.2 million ($65.5 million coming from the domestic box office).
Chris MacNeil (Burstyn) returned to help a new group of characters, including Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.), a widower who has raised his daughter Angela alone since the tragic death of his wife. It is after Angela and her friend Katherine disappear into the woods and return three days later that a chain of events is unleashed that leads Victor to confront the lowest point of evil, and to enlist the help of the aforementioned Chris MacNeil. During the conclusion of Believerswe saw the return of Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil.
It will be Deceiver a new reboot, or will the story set in Believer?
William Fredkin directed the original horror classic, which continues to reign as the largest domestic box office total for a horror film, with $441 million. It has been at number one for 48 years. This film followed the events of the possession of a 12-year-old girl and the efforts of her mother (Burstyn) and two Catholic priests in their attempt to save her.
Source: https://cine3.com/blumhouse-mike-flanagan-director-the-exorcist-deceiver/
