It’s been over 50 years since we’ve gotten a good Exorcist movie.
And yes, that’s the joke, because if we’re being honest, there really hasn’t been a good Exorcist movie outside of the original. Back in 1973, William Friedkin adapted William Peter Blatty’s novel into what is not only one of the greatest horror films ever made, but arguably still the scariest.
What makes The Exorcist so effective isn’t the head-spinning or the pea soup. It’s how relentlessly brutal the film is toward Regan. The things that happen to her, the things she says, the places the movie is willing to go – it’s uncomfortable. It’s shocking. Even today, there are moments that feel like they crossed a line. Modern studio horror just doesn’t operate that way anymore.
That’s why the film has endured. There’s nothing else quite like it, and there probably never will be.
Now, do we really need another Exorcist movie?
I think the answer is no.
The Exorcist was copied so many times that it basically became its own subgenre. We’ve had everything from The Last Exorcism to The Rite, The Possession, Deliver Us from Evil, Prey for the Devil, The Pope’s Exorcist, and countless other possession movies that have come and gone over the years. Some are good. Most are forgettable. But the market certainly isn’t starving for exorcism stories.
That said, the name still carries weight.
Universal reportedly spent around $400 million to acquire the rights and launch a new trilogy. Their first attempt, The Exorcist: Believer, was a swing and a miss. In my opinion, that started with putting the franchise in the hands of David Gordon Green. His style works for certain projects, but horror has never really felt like his lane, and Believer ultimately failed to justify its existence.
To their credit, Universal and Blumhouse seem to have learned from that mistake.
Enter Mike Flanagan.
Whether you love his work or not, Flanagan is one of the most respected horror filmmakers working today. Personally, I’m a fan. I like slow-burn storytelling. I like character development. I like horror that takes its time building atmosphere instead of immediately throwing chaos at the screen.
More importantly, Flanagan consistently gets strong performances out of his casts, and his writing tends to focus on people first and scares second. That’s a very different approach than what we’ve seen from most possession movies over the last few decades.
Today, Mike Flanagan announced that his new Exorcist movie has officially wrapped production after roughly three months of filming. That’s a pretty big milestone for a project that had a lot of eyes on it from the second his name was attached. After Believer failed to relaunch the franchise in any meaningful way, this one already feels like the real reset.
The cast is stacked. Scarlett Johansson, Chiwetel Ejiofor (Backrooms), Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, John Leguizamo, Sasha Calle, and Jacobi Jupe headline the project, alongside several familiar faces from Flanagan’s previous work, including Carla Gugino, Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli, Samantha Sloyan, Hamish Linklater, Carl Lumbly, and John Gallagher Jr.
His Exorcist is currently scheduled for release on March 12, 2027.
Maybe I’m setting myself up for disappointment, but this is the first time in decades that an Exorcist project actually feels exciting. Not because it’s another possession movie, but because it has a filmmaker attached who might bring something genuinely different to the table.
After decades of sequels, prequels, reboots, and imitators, Mike Flanagan’s film has a rare opportunity: not just to continue the Exorcist franchise, but to finally give it a worthy successor.
Exorcist Franchise Timeline
- The Exorcist (1973)
- Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
- The Exorcist III (1990)
- Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
- Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (2005)
- The Exorcist TV Series (2016–2018)
- The Exorcist: Believer (2023)
- Mike Flanagan’s Untitled Exorcist Film (2027)
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