Blumhouse's THE EXORCIST Reboot Casts Lidya Jewett as its Young, Mostly Likely Possessed, Star

Director David Gordon Green has been hard at work developing a reboot of the classic horror film The Exorcist. The project, which is a planned trilogy, is being produced by Blumhouse, Morgan Creek, and Universal Pictures.

We’ve now learned that Lidya Jewett is set to star in the film and will most likely end up being the young girl that is possessed in the story. Jewett joins the previously cast Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton, One Night In Miami), Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale) and Ellen Burstyn, who is reprising her role as Chris MacNeil.

This reboot is described as a legacy sequel that will take place after the events of the original 1973 film. Green previously teased what we can expect from the upcoming trilogy, saying:

"I think we'll learn from the production on the first one to see what applies as we evolve. It's honoring Chris MacNeil and we're checking in on her 50 years later, so it's a significant evolution in her character, but I think it'll be really fun to explore.

"We're about to begin on a very different type of technical journey than Halloween. I don't even necessarily categorize it as a horror film, although it's very horror appealing, it's psychological and dramatic. It doesn't have the fun tension-breakers that Halloween would have, because you can't lean into any of the more campy qualities that I think we enjoy from time to time in the Halloween movies. It's dead serious and pretty straightforward, and I don't know, I'm excited about it."

Jewett is a young actor who has appeared in more than 15 films and television shows. Her feature film credits include the lead role in Sam Raimi’s Nightbooks, Netflix’s Ivy + Bean, Hidden Figures, Black Panther, and The Darkest Minds. She also appeared in TV shows such as Good Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, Bunk’d, and more.

The trilogy is also being developed by Scott Teems (Halloween Kills, The Quarry), Danny McBride (Halloween Kills, Halloween) and Peter Sattler (Broken Diamonds).

Jason Blum will produce on behalf of Blumhouse. Anyone excited about this horror movie project?

Source: Deadline