The Exorcist Reboot Producer Says Film Will Feel "Fresh" and "Really, Really Scary"

09/30/2021 04:06 pm EDT

Not satisfied with Oscar gold from Get Out, creating all-new franchises with the likes of The Purge and Paranormal Activity, and rebooting Halloween so successfully that it became the highest grossing slasher movie of all time, Blumhouse has their eyes on another new prize: The Exorcist. It was previously confirmed that, like their 2018 revival of the John Carpenter franchise, Blumhouse would team with filmmaker David Gordon Green for a decades-later sequel to the 1973 (one that seemingly ignores all the sequels that followed, but not if you don't want it to). What should we expect from the movie though? Jason Blum naturally has an answer.

"What I hope to do with The Exorcist is the same thing we did with Halloween," Blum revealed to CinePOP. "Halloween, the first movie was great, and the second movie was okay, and the rest of them were not very good. And then we came in and kind of re-jiggered it, and people liked it, so I hope we can do the same thing with The Exorcist. Everyone thinks we're gonna fall on our face, but I think, we have the same filmmaker, the same writer, David Gordon Green and Danny McBride. And I think we'll reinvent The Exorcist so that it'll feel fresh, new, different, but, you know, related to the first movie, but also really, really scary."

Blum and David Gordon Green's plans for The Exorcist aren't limited to just this one film though as an entire trilogy of new films are in the works. The first of these movies has tapped actor Leslie Odem Jr. (Hamilton, One Night in Miami) who is playing the father of a possessed child, who turns to Chris MacNeil (Oscar-winner Ellen Burstyn reprising her role from the original film) for help, as MacNeil's daughter Regan (Linda Blair) had to fight off a demonic presence in the original film. Blair herself has previously confirmed she's not involved in the new movie, but talks could happen at some point.

Morgan Creek Entertainment (right holders of The Exorcist franchise) will team with Blumhouse Productions for the trio of films which were picked up by Universal and Peacock in a huge deal.

"That one is a lot of research, rather than just impulsive screenwriting," Green previously told Total Film about The Exorcist script. "That's one that you talk to a lot of people. You read a lot of books, and do a sh-tload of interviews. There was such a dramatic authenticity to what that original film is. It's a lot more than I anticipated getting into it. And I guess I was naive to think that. But it was very exhilarating to be involved in a lot of those conversations that you find yourself in."  

The Exorcist franchise will return with a new movie on October 13th, 2023.  

(H/T Screen Rant)

Disclosure: ComicBook is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.