Mike Flanagan Promises His Exorcist Movie Will Be 'Really Scary'

Mike Flanagan, one of modern horror’s most interesting auteurs (Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep) is taking over the revamping of The Exorcist franchise for Blumhouse, and has now offered a terrifyingly promising update regarding his horror sequel. After Jason Blum’s company teamed up with Morgan Creek Entertainment for a new trilogy, David Gordon Green led the project and directed The Exorcist: Believer, the 2023 follow-up to the original 1973 feature. The results weren’t as great as producers expected, and weeks after the release, Green exited the planned trilogy.

Since Flanagan’s past with Blumhouse had good results in the form of Hush and Ouija: Origin of Evil, released in 2016, it was a no-brainer that he was always a potential candidate to replace Green. Officially part of the project now, Flanagan has been quiet about the new take on the franchise. But like many others, he grew up with the idea that The Exorcist was the scariest movie ever made. And after what he said at the ATX Festival, we can rest assured that he will honor the original in that aspect.

As per SlashFilm, Flanagan took the mic to say the audience should expect the film to “be really scary,” and that it won’t make unnecessary allusions to the original 1973 film. Flanagan seems to understand that modern audiences won’t exactly connect with a 50-year-old film and everything that made the William Friedkin classic a scary movie.

It’s still too early to tell if Flanagan will include legacy characters in the new story, as early reports confirm that it won’t be a sequel to The Exorcist: Believer, and it will just take place in The Exorcist universe. However, given his ability at character development, we don’t see how his take won’t work. Flanagan also said on the ATX panel that the characters will be “real and emotional and relevant.”

The New Exorcist Movie Won’t Be the Usual Mike Flanagan Film

Flanagan’s storytelling style usually addresses much heavier themes than those usually seen in the horror spectrum. Religion, redemption, and forgiveness are elements he often includes in the storylines of his characters, and they often spew out long monologues that feel alien to the horror formula but nonetheless work for the more dramatic side of Flanagan’s medium. However, when asked how he will address this in the new Exorcist film, he says, “I already got it out of my system.”

Mia sitting in front of the cursed hand in Talk to Me, two possessed girls from The Exorcist: Believer, and Russell Crowe as a Priest from The Pope's Exorcist

10 Movies to Watch if You Loved The Exorcist: Believer

The Exorcist: Believer wasn’t exactly a horror fan favorite. But for those who loved it, here are 10 other films that’ll help you stay in that mood.

The original Exorcist film was an emotionally harrowing experience that, scary or not, hit everyone’s nerves back in 1973. It was a horrific story about the pursuit of faith in dire circumstances, but it was also a film about a relentless and unknown entity entering the ideal American household. When compared to other Flanagan movies, it also shares an emotional load that resonates through the power of well-designed and compelling characters. It’s still in the early stages, but Flanagan probably won’t shed away his skill at developing an emotional juggernaut. It will just be different than what he has done before and what was attempted with The Exorcist: Believer.

Identity is achievable in many ways. And if Flanagan does the usual, and convinces Blumhouse and Morgan Creek to hire his usual ensemble cast, we can rest assured that the new Exorcist movie will be a movie identifiable as “a Flanagan joint.”