Key Takeaways
- Acquisition Details: Universal Pictures and Peacock spent around $400 million for the rights to a trilogy of sequels to The Exorcist.
- Release Updates: The sequel directed by Mike Flanagan is now set for release on March 12, 2027.
- Returning Actors: Flanagan’s film will feature many of his frequent collaborators from previous projects.
- Production Companies: The new Exorcist film is produced by Blumhouse-Atomic Monster and Morgan Creek Entertainment.
Universal Pictures and Peacock forked over an amount somewhere in the range of $400 million to acquire the rights to distribute a trilogy of sequels to the 1973 classic The Exorcist, which were going to be another collaboration between Blumhouse Productions and director David Gordon Green (who previously delivered a trilogy of Halloween sequels for Blumhouse and Universal). By the time Green’s first Exorcist movie, The Exorcist: Believer, reached theatres in October of 2023, the script for a sequel titled The Exorcist: Deceiver, which was scheduled for an April 18, 2025 theatrical release, was ready and the story of the third film was mapped out… Believer‘s box office numbers were okay, the movie pulled in $137 million on a $30 million budget, but Universal was hoping for a lot better than “okay,” and the reactions were largely negative. (You can read our 4/10 review HERE.) So the plans for The Exorcist: Deceiver were set aside and Green left the project.
Last year, it was announced that the Exorcist sequel had been passed over to writer/director/producer Mike Flanagan, who was said to be working on a “radical new take” on the franchise. And while Flanagan’s movie won’t be making its originally announced March 13, 2026 release date, it is moving forward, aiming to reach theatres on March 12, 2027. Filming is underway in New York City – and in recent weeks, we’ve heard that the cast consists of Black Widow herself Scarlett Johansson, John Leguizamo (Land of the Dead), Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix), Jacobi Jupe (Hamnet), Diane Lane (Let Him Go), Sasha Calle (The Flash), and Chiwetel Ejiofor, who recently worked with Flanagan on the Stephen King adaptation The Life of Chuck.
But Flanagan is known for working with a core group of actors again and again. If you’ve been wondering where they are, fear not, they will be in this Exorcist movie as well!
Frequent Collaborators
Deadline has confirmed that Flanagan regulars Rahul Kohli, Hamish Linklater, Carl Lumbly, Robert Longstreet, Matt Biedel, Samantha Sloyan, Kate Siegel, John Gallagher Jr., and Carla Gugino will all be showing up in his new movie. They note, “Many of these actors featured in Flanagan’s Netflix miniseries Midnight Mass and The Fall of the House of Usher, with assorted members also appearing in the likes of Oculus, Hush, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Gerald’s Game, The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Midnight Club, and The Life of Chuck.
Benjamin Pajak of The Life of Chuck is in the mix as well, along with Gil Bellows (Love and a .45)… and, unless I’m overlooking something, I think this is Bellows’ first time working with Flanagan.
The new Exorcist movie is coming our way from Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, Morgan Creek Entertainment, and Flanagan’s Red Room Pictures banner. Alexandra Magistro serves as an executive producer for Red Room. David Robinson is producing the film for Morgan Creek, while Jason Blum and Ryan Turek serve as the respective producer and executive producer for Blumhouse-Atomic Monster.
Are you glad to hear that Mike Flanagan hasn’t left his frequent collaborators out of his Exorcist movie? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
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