Mike Flanagan Set To Direct “Radical New Take” On ‘Exorcist’ For Blumhouse, Morgan Creek 

Sila Shiloni/Everett Collection

Blumhouse has made official that which is already out there: Doctor Sleep filmmaker Mike Flanagan is writing, directing and producing “a radical new take” on The Exorcist in a new film with the genre producer and Morgan Creek. 

This all comes in the wake of the last movie, The Exorcist: Believer, flailing at the B.O. with $65.5M U.S./Canada and $136.2M WW, this after NBCUni, Peacock, Blumhouse bought the rights from Morgan Creek back in July 2021 for $400M. David Gordon Green, the director of that movie, withdrew from the next installment.

The next movie here about demon-possessed people and the Jesuit priests that wrangle them is billed as “an all-new story set in The Exorcist universe and is not a sequel to 2023’s The Exorcist: Believer” per the press release. Pic will be produced by Trevor Macy on behalf of Intrepid Pictures and Flanagan via his new Red Room Pictures banner. John Scherer will also be working on the film on behalf of Intrepid.

The project reps the fourth team-up between Flanagan and Blumhouse: the filmmaker wrote and directed Oculus (2013), Hush (2016) and Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016). All of these movies were produced by Macy, the latter title recently featured in Blumhouse’s Halfway to Halloween AMC Film Series.

Stated Flanagan, “The Exorcist is one of the reasons I became a filmmaker, and it is an honor to have the chance to try something fresh, bold, and terrifying within its universe. Reuniting with my friends at Blumhouse, with whom I’ve made some of my favorite pieces of work, only makes this more exciting.”

“Mike’s voice and vision are indispensable for horror fans and we are excited to welcome him back to Blumhouse. I immediately responded to Mike’s new take on the world of The Exorcist and can’t wait for audiences to experience it,” said Blumhouse Boss Jason Blum. 

“It’s an honor to be working with Mike. I think his vision for this franchise is going to stun audiences worldwide, and I could not be more excited to be working with him, Trevor, Jason and the entire Blumhouse Team,” said David Robinson, Chairman and CEO of Morgan Creek.

Flanagan, Macy as well as Intrepid and Red Room are represented by WME, with VanderKloot Law also representing Flanagan and Reder & Feig handling Macy.

The InSneider first had the news about Flanagan in talks for the next Exorcist.