Key Takeaways
- Filmmaker Mike Flanagan is set to direct a new The Exorcist film, which has generated excitement among fans.
- Scarlett Johansson’s involvement in the project indicates a strong script and potential for a compelling story.
- Flanagan is known for his unique storytelling style, as seen in works like Midnight Mass.
- There is hope that Johansson will become a regular collaborator with Flanagan, joining his ensemble cast.
I think most of us breathed a sigh of relief when David Gordon Green dropped out of his proposed Exorcist trilogy. While I wasn’t a massive hater of Believer like some, I had absolutely zero faith in DGG after his absolutely abysmal Halloween trilogy. I was hoping that Universal would leave the franchise to take a breather. But I guess that $500 million investment couldn’t just sit around, so they pretty quickly got a new film in the works and announced Mike Flanagan as its writer and director.
Now, I consider Mike Flanagan to be one of the greatest filmmakers working today. Midnight Mass was a damn near religious experience with its thought-provoking monologues, beautiful cinematography, and satisfying character arcs. He’s bringing something to the table that rarely ever disappoints (hell, he’s never even come close to letting me down as I’ve enjoyed all of his work to some degree).
But I’d be lying if I wasn’t a tad disappointed to hear that he’d be taking on the world of The Exorcist. While he will, no doubt, do a fantastic job (check out Ouija: Origin of Evil if you want to see how well he can handle possession), part of me wishes that he would focus on some of his other previously announced projects (Dark Tower, anyone?) But any amount of new Mike Flanagan material is a good thing.
While details on his film have been pretty scant since he’s been busy making Amazon’s new Carrie TV show, this week finally gave us an update: Scarlett Johansson has joined the film. As someone who really enjoys Johansson, I’ve been disappointed to see her focus so much on blockbuster fare. As proven by 2019’s JoJo Rabbit, she has a lot more to offer than just running around in front of green screens.
So it’s very intriguing to see her join Flanagan’s Exorcist since we haven’t really seen her in the horror world since Under the Skin (if you want to count that). She’s an incredibly versatile actress, and I can’t wait to see how she fits into a horror story. While I had very little interest in a new Exorcist movie before, I’m very intrigued by Scarlett’s involvement, since it seems to point towards the script/story being good enough to rope her in. It also shows the level of talent that wants to work with the prolific writer/director.
More importantly, I’m hoping that this is a move that sees Johansson joining Flanagan’s regular troupe of actors. From his wife Kate Siegel to Henry Thomas to Rahul Kohli, there have been so many wonderful regulars in his world, and he always gives them such meaty parts. It would be awesome if, between her massive franchise work like the Jurassic films, we see Scarlett focus on smaller stuff, and I can’t imagine anyone better to work with than Mike Flanagan. Time will tell, but I know I’m certainly hoping that this is the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership.
I just hope you’re ready to do some lengthy monologues, Scarlett. Because I’m sure Flanagan is cooking up some good ones for you.
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