Blumhouse is zeroing-in on a director for their sequel to The Exorcist.
According to Observer (backed-up by trades), David Gordon Green is in talks to direct the horror project. David you might remember is behind the successful Halloween soft-reboot/sequel along with the two sequels Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends.
Details are a little scarce and if they’ll be attempting to make a film with returning characters or simply reworking the existing mythology for something new but establishing the events of the original film still happened.
The Exorcist is considered a benchmark film in the horror genre as it was a massive box office hit and also helped elevate the quality of horror films that could be made by filmmakers beyond the B-movie. The previous sequels have never really match the bar set by the original and this new project will have rather large shoes to fill.
THE EXORCIST – One of the most profitable horror movies ever made, this tale of an exorcism is based loosely on actual events. When young Regan (Linda Blair) starts acting odd — levitating, speaking in tongues — her worried mother (Ellen Burstyn) seeks medical help, only to hit a dead end. A local priest (Jason Miller), however, thinks the girl may be seized by the devil. The priest makes a request to perform an exorcism, and the church sends in an expert (Max von Sydow) to help with the difficult job.
The original film’s director William Friedkin took to Twitter recently to debunk an IMDB listing that suggested he was involved with the new project and makes it clear he never would be part of it. I guess they won’t get a blessing similar to John Carpenter on their Halloween sequels.
FRIEDKIN: “There’s a rumor on IMDB that I’m involved with a new version of The Exorcist. This isn’t a rumor, it’s a flat-out life. There’s not enough money or motivation in the world to get me to do this.”
SOURCE: OBSERVER
THE RONIN 