Young actress Olivia Marcum (“Matilda The Musical”) has joined the cast of the next installment of “The Exorcist” franchise. She will be working alongside the previously announced cast of Ann Dowd (“The Handmaid’s Tale”), Lidya Jewett (“Good Girls”), and Academy-Award nominee Leslie Odom Jr. (“Glass Onion”). Ellen Burstyn reprising her role as Chris MacNeil from the original 1973 film.
Blumhouse, Universal, Peacock, and Morgan Creek’s new addition to the franchise will be the start of an all new trilogy. It also seems to be retconning “The Exorcist” two and three, and directly follows the first film. Essentially providing an alternative sequel, which is certainly not new to the horror genre. The “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” franchise has already done this several times with varying degrees of success. The most recent successful* (*subject to much debate) example of this is the “Halloween” franchise, which was revived by Blumhouse, Miramax, and director David Gordon Green.
This is probably why Green will also be directing the new installment of “The Exorcist.” Scott Teems and Danny McBride who worked with Green on “Halloween Kills,” have a hand in the story for this project. The script itself will be written by Peter Sattler (“Broken Diamonds”) and Green.
Jason Blum will produce on behalf of his Blumhouse banner. David Robinson and James Robinson will produce for Morgan Creek. Green, McBride, and Couper Samuelson will executive produce. All with Ryan Turek overseeing the project for Blumhouse. The studios backing “The Exorcist” were able to nab the franchise rights for $400 million. Pretty reasonable considering the first film has a global box office of $441M, and was the highest-grossing horror film for 44 years. It was also the first horror film ever nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, among nine other nominations. And while fans ignore second film, over the decades the third installment has become a cult classic. Showing this premise still has some serious staying power.
“The Exorcist” is currently in production for an anticipated October 13th, 2023 release date.
