Mike Flanagan is in line to direct the next Exorcist movie, and his acclaimed 2021 horror miniseries highlights why he’s the best choice. The original Exorcist is rightfully considered one of the horror genre’s best, but efforts to turn it into a franchise have often proved fruitless. The second entry was so poorly received that director John Boorman was forced to recut it shortly after its theatrical debut, while 1990’s The Exorcist III underwent extensive reshoots when the studio realized the sequel contained no actual exorcisms. Despite this, the third entry is considered the best of the follow-ups.
Following the success of their Halloween legacy sequels, Blumhouse was handed the rights to The Exorcist saga and announced a planned trilogy of films. The first of these was 2023 sequel The Exorcist: Believer, which despite being a box-office success, received roundly terrible reviews. In the aftermath, plans for a trilogy from director David Gordon Green were thrown into doubt, with the filmmaker later exiting the planned follow-up The Exorcist: Deceiver.
Mike Flanagan has emerged over the last decade or so to become one of horror’s most prolific directors. Flanagan’s movies and TV shows are always worth seeking out, with some of his most acclaimed being the Stephen King adaptation Gerald’s Game and 2018 miniseries The Haunting of Hill House. Reports (via The InSneider) have linked Flanagan to taking over Blumhouse’s next Exorcist movie from David Gordon Green. The report also suggests that instead of picking up from Believer, Flanagan would instead take the film in a new creative direction.
It has yet to be confirmed if Flanagan is helming the next installment in the series, though the fact he’s in discussion proves Blumhouse wants to correct Believer’s mistakes. Not only is he a great filmmaker, but Flanagan’s acclaimed vampire miniseries Midnight Mass proves he is the best director for the next Exorcist. Flanagan based this series on his own Catholic upbringing and struggles with sobriety, and is both a moving drama that explores themes like the nature of faith and morality, in addition to being quite terrifying.
The series was a deeply personal project for Flanagan and one he spent years trying to get made. While Exorcist: Believer dodged some of the bigger philosophical questions posed by its concept, Flanagan’s Midnight Mass posed some insightful questions about organized religion, atheism, addiction and what truly happens to people after they die. Midnight Mass earned 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, and is arguably his best work, even taking the likes of Doctor Sleep or Hill House into consideration.
Following the success of 2018’s Halloween, there was a period when director David Gordon Green was linked to rebooting other horror properties. In addition to signing up for two further Halloween sequels, he attached himself to a Hellraiser TV series and felt like an obvious choice to take over Blumhouse’s The Exorcist. Sadly, it feels like Green never had a solid grasp on what his legacy sequel was supposed to be. The Exorcist: Believer suffers from jarring tonal shifts, moving from self-serious drama to over-the-top horror flick, while franchise easter eggs simply felt out of place.
Ellen Burstyn’s nostalgia-baiting guest appearance may have been plastered over the sequel’s trailers, but her role could have been cut entirely. Believer felt like a reheating of other possession films, but one that had no real thoughts on the nature of evil or religion outside of a surface level understanding. The Exorcist: Believer’s ending at least commits to a dark twist regarding one of the possessed girls, but a weak screenplay and lack of atmosphere ultimately left the film feeling hollow.
It speaks to the cultural cache of The Exorcist franchise that Believer still grossed $130 million worldwide, despite poor reviews and word of mouth. Even during promotion for the film, Blumhouse and Green were already sounding cagey about plans for Deceiver, suggesting the production company already realized they needed a new franchise strategy. This was the smart choice since their Halloween sequels also suffered diminishing critical and financial returns.
If Blumhouse wants The Exorcist to become a reliable franchise, it can’t survive another dud like Believer at the box office. Handing the keys to Flanagan to generate his take on the concept is the best possible step. Even his lesser outings like Ouija: Origin of Evil are still solid horror films, and he knows how to bring a personal touch to his work. The Exorcist franchise needs some redemption, and giving the property to one of the genre’s top directors is a good place to start.
Source: The InSneider, Rotten Tomatoes