The Exorcist Believer Director Excited for Sequel Possibilities (Exclusive)

David Gordon Green is best known to horror fans for directing the recent Halloween trilogy that saw Jamie Lee Curtis returning to the role of Laurie Strode for the first time in 16 years. Now, he’s reviving The Exorcist with The Exorcist: Believer, which will see Ellen Burstyn return to the role of Chris MacNeil for the first time in 50 years. Green recently spoke with ComicBook.com about the new film alongside producer Jason Blum, and the topic of Halloween came up. During the chat, Green addressed whether or not he will be taking the same trilogy route with The Exorcist.

“Well, it’s fun. We had a road map that thought, ‘You know, if the world will embrace what we’re making here, then we’ll keep it going,’” Green explained. “So we have a nice road map, and then once we got into production, the movie took on a life of its own, and we took some detours on that road. But I’m excited that if thismovie is well received and we can keep them cranking, we got some new avenues to explore.”

How The Exocist: Believer Differs From Halloween (2018):

Green recently spoke with IGN and explained that The Exorcist: Believer will be different from his Halloween trilogy when it comes to nostalgia. 

“It’s not an Easter Eggy movie,” Green revealed. “I had a lot of fun seeing what some of the old cast were up to [in Halloween], and making callbacks to all of the Halloween movies … The Exorcist isn’t that type of fun … The Exorcist is more academic and psychologically horrific.” 

“I wasn’t particularly looking to continue in horror,” Green added. “I’d said a lot in three films and was contemplating what comes next – but [The Exorcist] was too amazing of an opportunity to pass up … We could exercise new muscles, try something different, and utilize our drama tools in horror environments.”

What Is The Exorcist: Believer About? 

You can read the official synopsis for The Exorcist: Believer here: “Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding (Tony winner and Oscar® nominee Leslie Odom, Jr.; One Night in Miami, Hamilton) has raised their daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett, Good Girls) on his own. But when Angela and her friend Katherine (newcomer Olivia Marcum), disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil.” 

The film “also stars Emmy winner Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale, Hereditary) as Victor and Angela’s neighbor, and Grammy winner Jennifer Nettles (Harriet, The Righteous Gemstones) and two-time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz (Fosse/Verdon, Bloodline) as the parents of Katherine.” 

The Exorcist: Believer lands in theaters on October 13th.