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David Gordon Green Confirms His Exorcist Film is a Sequel

July 23, 2021 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
The Exorcist Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

David Gordon Green in on board for a new Exorcist film, and he has confirmed that it is a sequel. It was suggested back in June by Jason Blum that the film, which Blumhouse is producing and Green wrote and will direct, would be “like David’s Halloween sequel.” That led many to speculate that the film will be a sequel which ignores the previous sequels. Green said in an interview with Total Film that while it is a sequel, it won’t pretend that The Exorcist II or the third film didn’t happen.

The Exorcist has been written,” Green said. “That was one of my pandemic projects. It’s not inaccurate [that it will be a sequel to the original film]. I like all the Exorcist movies. And not only do I like them, I think they can all fall into the acceptable mythology for what I’m doing. It’s not like I’m saying, ‘Pretend that The Exorcist 2 never happened.’ That’s fine to exist. They’re all fine to exist, and I enjoy all of them.”

Green added that this franchise is one that he’s exited to be part of, noting, “It’s another fun legacy to be a part of, and hopefully we’ll get that going in the near future. That one is a lot of research, rather than just impulsive screenwriting. That’s one that you talk to a lot of people. You read a lot of books, and do a shit-load of interviews. There was such a dramatic authenticity to what that original film is. It’s a lot more than I anticipated getting into it. And I guess I was naive to think that. But it was very exhilarating to be involved in a lot of those conversations that you find yourself in.”

The Exorcist was a massive box office hit and critical darling, even bringing in a couple of Academy Awards. It was followed up by The Exorcist II: The Heretic, which was widely derided upon its release in 1977, followed by the better-received The Exorcist III in 1990. After that were dueling takes on a prequel story in Exorcist: The Beginning and Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist, and then the FOX TV series set in the same world that ran for two seasons.