Halloween Ends Director Teases His “Dead Serious” The Exorcist Sequel

Halloween Ends was released last week and marked the final movie in David Gordon Green’s trilogy. However, it won’t be the last time the director tackles an iconic horror franchise. The Exorcist is now getting its own legacy sequel from Green, and it’s going to feature the return of the original film’s Ellen Burstyn. While Jamie Lee Curtis came back multiple times for Halloween sequels, some actors prefer the “one and done” approach. Back in 1973, The Exorcist starred Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil, Max von Sydow as Father Lankester Merrin, and Burstyn as Chris MacNeil. While Blair and von Sydow returned in 1977 for Exorcist II: The Heretic, Burstyn chose not to come back. During a recent interview with The Wrap, Green talked about what fans can expect from his next trilogy.

“I think we’ll learn from the production on the first one to see what applies as we evolve,” Green explained. “It’s honoring Chris MacNeil and we’re checking in on her 50 years later, so it’s a significant evolution in her character, but I think it’ll be really fun to explore.” 

“We’re about to begin on a very different type of technical journey than Halloween,” Green shared. “I don’t even necessarily categorize it as a horror film, although it’s very horror appealing, it’s psychological and dramatic. It doesn’t have the fun tension-breakers that Halloween would have, because you can’t lean into any of the more campy qualities that I think we enjoy from time to time in the Halloween movies. It’s dead serious and pretty straightforward, and I don’t know, I’m excited about it.”

Why Is Ellen Burstyn Returning To The Exorcist? 

After years of refusing to play Chris MacNeil again, Burstyn recently admitted to The Hollywood Reporter that it was the huge payday that helped get her back.

“You know, what happened was I’ve turned down many versions of The Exorcist 2. I’ve said no every time,” Burstyn explained. “This time they offered me a whole bunch of money and I still said no. And then they surprised me and they came back and said, ‘We doubled the offer.’ I said, ‘OK, let me think about this.’ I thought, ‘That’s a lot of money. Let me think about it.’ The next thought that came to mind was: ‘I feel like the devil is asking my price.’ And the next thought that came to mind was, ‘My price is a scholarship program for talented students at our master’s degree program at Pace University. That’s my price.’ So I then went back and upped their up and ended up getting what I want. And I’ve got a scholarship program for young actors.”

Burstyn added, “And I’ve shot most of the picture. The writer-director, David Gordon Green, I like very much. I met with him and we talked about the script and so forth and I promised him four more days if he needed them. And he’s edited the film and he wants the four days, so I’m going back in November to shoot four more days. And it’ll come out in [2023] on the 50th anniversary of The Exorcist, the original.”

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