'Exorcist' sequel in the works with 'Halloween' director

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TBS Report
23 December, 2020, 11:05 am
Last modified: 23 December, 2020, 11:09 am
The Exorcist remains a cultural touchstone and has spawned numerous sequels

A sequel to famous horror movie The Exorcist in the works at Blumhouse Productions and Morgan Creek, with David Gordon Green (Halloween) on board to direct.

According to The Observer, Jason Blum, David Robinson and James Robinson will serve as producers on the untitled project, but no plot details were revealed.

William Friedkin directed the original The Exorcist, which became a sensation in 1973 and went on to earn $193 million globally, making it the highest-grossing, R-rated horror movie of all time until it was dethroned by 2017's It.

Widely considered one of the scariest movies ever made, the original film focused on a 12-year-old girl possessed by a mysterious entity and the lengths her mother and two Catholic priests go to in an attempt to save her.

It was adapted from William Peter Blatty's 1971 novel, and earned the author an adapted screenplay Oscar. The film was nominated for ten Oscars in all, including best picture and best director, as well as acting nominations for Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller and Linda Blair

The Exorcist remains a cultural touchstone and has spawned numerous sequels, and in 1983, Blatty published Legion, a book sequel to his first novel. As for Friedkin, he has been vocal that he will not be involved in any sequel.

Of course, The Exorcist already has two sequels. The first, John Boorman's surreal The Heretic, was critically panned and actually had very little to do with the events of the first film. However, William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist III (based on his novel Legion) was far better received and served as a more direct follow-up to the 1973 classic.

Whether this movie will re-adapt Legion or tell a completely new story remains to be see.

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