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Mike Flanagan is one of the most creative and engaging horror filmmakers, and in a recent interview, he shared something thrilling about his upcoming reboot of The Exorcist.
In an early September 2024 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Flanagan shared that he “chased” this reboot “very aggressively” because of what he could bring to the movie. Flanagan explained his intention to make this movie more terrifying than his previous projects.
Flanagan told The Hollywood Reporter:
“This is an opportunity to do something that I believe has never been done within the franchise — something that honors what came before it but isn’t built on nostalgia. I really just saw an opportunity to make the scariest movie I’ve ever made. I know expectations are high. No one’s more intimidated than I am.”
Since The Exorcist is a beloved horror classic, it makes sense that other filmmakers would want to make their mark on the franchise. In May 2024, Deadline reported that Flanagan would write and direct a new Exorcist movie. While David Gordon Green made The Exorcist: Believer, it didn’t do well at the box office and wasn’t a hit with audiences, either. His trilogy was canceled and now Flanagan is at the helm of a new movie.
Fans have debated which Flanagan Netflix series is best since The Midnight Club, Midnight Mass, and The Haunting of Hill House are well-crafted and unique TV shows with solid characters in situations that are as emotional as they are eerie. Flanagan has a knack for ensuring his stories have as much heart as they do jump scares and other horror elements, and it will be interesting to see how that translates to The Exorcist franchise. Since Flanagan is a fan of Stephen, it’s no wonder that fans think there are some Stephen King books Flanagan could adapt. As it turns out, he was afraid of horror movies when he was growing up but liked reading horror books. He said in his The Hollywood Reporter interview that he loves King’s blend of scares and character development. He explained:
“it only works because of his incredible humanistic care for the characters. He’s always been my hero as a writer.”
The original The Exorcist was released in 1973 and has several sequels: 1977’s Exorcist II: The Heretic and 1990’s The Exorcist III. Then, in the 2000s, Exorcist: The Beginning was released in 2004 and Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist was released in 2005. There was then a long break before David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer was released. No matter how many scary movie demons there are, The Exorcist will always be the gold standard for horror movies about demonic possession. No one can forget the scene of Regan MacNeil’s (Linda Blair) head spinning around, and since that is widely considered to be one of the most terrifying moments in horror history, it will be interesting to see just how scary Flanagan’s version gets.
Horror fans likely can’t wait to see Flanagan’s The Exorcist, which will be in theaters on Friday March 13th, 2026, according to IGN.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, IGN
