‘The Exorcist’: David Gordon Green Confirms He’s Directing Three New Sequels
Max Weinstein
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Consider David Gordon Green Blumhouse’s resident revamp specialist. The 2018 Halloween helmer has now confirmed that he’ll be directing three sequels to William Friedkin’s The Exorcist.
In conversation with Collider, Green said that he’s co-writing this contemporary trilogy with Peter Sattler, who previously worked with Green on a TV adaptation of Freaks of the Heartland that never aired. “He’s another film school buddy of mine and we have got[ten] along great,” Green explains. “We did th[e] adaptation a few years ago and had a great time, it was so cool. So I brought him on board to jumpstart Exorcist with me.”
Green also shared some updates on their progress. “The first one of our trilogy is written and the second two are being outlined,” he said. “So we’ve got a ways to go on that, but we know where we’re going. It’s a new journey [with] some familiar characters and some new ones as well.”
Also Read: David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist Will Be a Direct Sequel
“I’m sure I’ll know more a year from now when I’ve gotten a handle on what The Exorcist is,” Green continues. “The script’s written. And it was a very, entirely different writing process.”
Intriguingly, in the interview Green characterizes the material of Halloween as “very primal” and the material of The Exorcist as “very academic.” By now, we’ve gotten a taste of he means by “primal” with his take on Michael Myers. But it’ll be interesting to see what his idea of an “academic” possession story might look like.
“To me, it’s as different as making Stronger and Pineapple Express,” he adds. “They’re so unbelievably different, so it’s just trying to switch gears there.”
In the first installment of Green’s Exorcist trilogy, Ellen Burstyn will reprise her role as Chris MacNeil, mother of the once-possessed Regan (Linda Blair). Leslie Odom Jr. also stars as the father of a newly possessed child, who seeks out Regan’s help to save his daughter. Jason Blum will rejoin Green to produce, and Universal will distribute the films in theaters and on Peacock. (The first film will open exclusively in theaters, but the second and third may only get a day-and-date release.)
Green’s first addition to The Exorcist‘s canon is currently slated for an October 13, 2023 release.
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