As announced earlier this week, Mike Flanagan has officially signed on to direct the next Exorcist movie, which is a clean break from the previously planned trilogy. Flanagan has a “radical new take” on the classic franchise. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t intimidated by the task at hand.
“For The Exorcist specifically, I’m f***ing terrified,” said Flanagan at an ATX panel via SlashFilm. The director gave that answer in response to a question about handling the creative freedom to do what he wants, along with the pressure of living up to the expectations that come with the franchise.
“With The Exorcist, there’s a lot of pressure, but thankfully there are a lot of bodies on the field of people who have stepped into landmines,” Flanagan joked. He went on to praise William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist sequel novel, Legion, as well as The Exorcist III. However, Flanagan was particularly enthusiastic about the short-lived 2016 Exorcist TV series that aired for two seasons on Fox.
“The franchise has had its ups and downs,” said Flanagan. “I would argue the show is one of the ups in a big way, and I thought it was just brilliant… Talk about how to do a legacy sequel, because damn, did that work.”
Universal hasn’t set a release date yet for Flanagan’s Exorcist movie.
