It’s been a big week for both horror fans and Mike Flanagan, as the director has now been confirmed to be in talks with Blumhouse to direct the next instalment in The Exorcist franchise.
Following the box office and critical failure of 2023’s The Exorcist: Believer, Blumhouse is looking to begin damage control on the franchise. With Believer director David Gordon Green being removed after the film flopped despite being attached to three films, it seems Jason Blum is taking a more serious approach regarding the development of the next two films.
The Exorcism of Mike Flanagan
In new reports from industry insiders Jeff Sneider and Deadline, the director is reportedly in talks for a new The Exorcist film but whether that film is a continuation from Believer, or something else entirely remains to be seen.
Sneider says according to one of his sources, the Doctor Sleep filmmaker would be taking over the last two films in the trilogy, currently subtitled Deceiver and Redeemer. This is where things start to become complicated as the insider mentions that a second source says Flanagan is in talks for a separate film not connected to the legacy trilogy ordered by Universal.
Things became even more complicated and less clear when Deadline’s Matt Grobar released a new article confirming that Flanagan was in talks, but they could only confirm his involvement in one film and could not specify what the film was.
Lone Wolf Or The Whole Intrepid Team?
The news comes after Mike Flanagan was announced as an executive producer on Chris Stuckmann’s Shelby Oaks. In that film, he will be joined by fellow Intrepid Pictures producers Trevor Macy, and Melinda Nishioka.
Based on this, it stands to reason that Macy would also join the next Exorcist film, based on his status as CEO of the company and Flanagan’s partner. That is, of course, if Flanagan produces as he usually does.
Blumhouse and Flanagan collaborated in the past on Hush, which starred Flanagan’s wife Kate Siegel as a deaf woman as she struggles with a slashing killer. So there is a precedent for these two creative forces working together.
Up next for Flanagan is The Life of Chuck, starring Tom Hiddleston and Mark Hamill, and Shelby Oaks which is directed by Chris Stuckmann.
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