David Gordon Green Teases His THE EXORCIST Sequel and Says "It's Dead Serious"
Director David Gordon Green recently concluded his Halloween trilogy with Halloween Ends. Now he’s deep in production on his sequel to The Exorcist. This is a legacy sequel that will take place after the events of the original 1973 film, and it’s also being planned as a trilogy.
Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night in Miami) is set to star in the film and Ellen Burstyn, who received an Oscar nomination for her performance in 1973’s original movie is returning to the franchise. She played Regan’s mom in the original film.
During a recent interview with The Wrap, Green 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."
So this is just going to be a straight-up psychological horror drama that isn’t going to let up. The original Exorcist was the same way, so I’m good with that.
After years of refusing to play Chris MacNeil again, Burstyn recently talked about playing the character again, saying that the reason she’s doing it is for the payday!
"You know, what happened was I've turned down many versions of The Exorcist 2. I've said no every time. This time they offered me a whole bunch of money and I still said no. And then they surprised me and they came back and said, 'We doubled the offer.' I said, 'OK, let me think about this.' I thought, 'That's a lot of money. Let me think about it.' The next thought that came to mind was: 'I feel like the devil is asking my price.' And the next thought that came to mind was, 'My price is a scholarship program for talented students at our master's degree program at Pace University. That's my price.' So I then went back and upped their up and ended up getting what I want. And I've got a scholarship program for young actors.”
She went on to say that she already shot most of the film and shared what it’s been like working with Green, saying:
"And I've shot most of the picture. The writer-director, David Gordon Green, I like very much. I met with him and we talked about the script and so forth and I promised him four more days if he needed them. And he's edited the film and he wants the four days, so I'm going back in November to shoot four more days. And it'll come out in [2023] on the 50th anniversary of The Exorcist, the original."
The Exorcist franchise will return with a new movie on October 13th, 2023.