Nearly 50 years after its release, The Exorcist will be made into a trilogy. Universal Pictures and NBCUniversal’s Peacock purchased the film’s rights in partnership with Blumhouse and Morgan Creek for a reported $400 million dollars. The franchise will be directed by David Gordon Green, who worked on the 2018 Halloween reboot and is slated to direct the next installment, Halloween Kills, out this fall.
The Exorcist trilogy will see the return of Ellen Burstyn, who starred as the mother of the demon-possessed Regan (Linda Blair) in the original. While it appears that Blair won’t be returning, the plot will revolve around a new possessed child, with Leslie Odom Jr. playing the father. The first film is slated to arrive in late 2023.
Universal emphasized that the trilogy will serve as a “continuation” rather than a remake. “There’s no better time to be joining forces with the team at Peacock, reuniting with the great team at Universal and finally getting to work with my friends at Blumhouse, than on this classic franchise,” Morgan Creek President’s David Robinson said in a statement. “David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, Scott Teems and Peter Sattler have put together a compelling continuation of this iconic tale and I can’t wait to bring this to fans around the world.”
