It has been 17 years since the last entry in The Exorcist franchise, Paul Schrader’s Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist, but the saga is due to be resuscitated next year. Blumhouse Productions and Morgan Creek have tapped David Gordon Green to make the first film of a planned trilogy to kick off on October 13, 2023, so speculation is heavy on what direction the classic horror series will go.
What is known so far is that the film, to be produced by Jason Blum, David Robinson, and James Robinson, is set to be a direct sequel. It intends to be a continuation of all the previous installments in The Exorcist chronology, unlike the recent 2018-2022 Halloween trilogy that Green helmed, which discarded what went down in previous sequels.
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No word on whether the series’ first star, Linda Blair as the famously possessed Regan, will return. However, Ellen Burstyn has been cast to reprise her role from the 1973 original as her mother and will be joined by actor/singer Leslie Odom Jr. in a leading role.
The new Exorcist, which will fall on the franchise’s 50th anniversary, will be written by Green and Peter Sattler from a story by Green, Scott Teems, and Danny McBride and has a lot to live up to. Let’s look at what the filmmakers will need to get right in order for it to fall in line successfully with the iconic canon.
Getting Back to the Basics of the Original Exorcist Franchise
20th Century Fox / Warner Bros.
The central story of possession needs to be re-established to introduce new generations to the franchise that began life as William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel. A summation with retrospective footage could make for an impactful opening for the reboot/sequel. To acquaint (or re-acquaint) movie-goers with the epic sage, characters must be strongly identified. Crucial plot points need to be explained, with the tone, settings, and aesthetic known and loved by fans given an approach that is both faithful to the previous entries and fresh to modern sensibilities.
As 2023’s The Exorcist is already in production and Burstyn’s part has been completed, here’s hoping that these factors have been tended to. We expect the filmmakers to have a grand scope for this go around.
A Simple, Straight-Forward Story Should Be Told
Warner Bros.
It’s encouraging that Green plans to continue the original story rather than remake it, with Odom Jr. the parent of a possessed child this time. It would effectively be a call-back to what made 1973’s The Exorcist resonate with audiences. The premise bounced around for the reboot is that Odom Jr.’s character is the parent of a possessed child and tracks down Burstyn’s character, whose young daughter (Blair) was possessed by an evil entity known as Pazuzu in the first film.
Staying true to Exorcist mythology and adhering to a straightforward story that can lure audiences in would be the best way to go. Many of the other sequels and the 20th Century Fox television series, The Exorcist, that ran from 2016-2017 got too cluttered and convoluted, which made the franchise lose its focus. Likewise for Shrader’s Dominion, which received lackluster reviews and a tepid box office. A simpler approach to the material would be more likely to rekindle the franchise’s iconic power.
The Exorcist Reboot Should Learn from the Latest Halloween Trilogy
The major inspiration for the Exorcist re-launching is certainly Green’s successful Halloween trilogy that just wrapped up. Producer Blum told Den of Geek:
The mixing of the iconic original and modern-day actors and mythology worked wonders at the box office for Green before, so the formula appears to be set to work its magic for the Exorcist ethos. Unfortunately, the series’ first director, William Friedkin, won’t be involved with the new project. But Green told MovieMaker that he’d still love to rope him in for at least some help with the soundtrack, stating:
With hope, this Exorcist reboot/sequel will conquer what’s been called the “Exorcist Curse,” rumored to be behind failed sequels, prequels, and spinoffs to the original film. With the right ambition and dedicated attempt to do justice to the horror classic, Green and company have a fighting chance to right those wrongs.
