David Gordon Green Is No Longer Compelled To Direct The Exorcist: Believer Sequel
David Gordon Green's "Halloween" trilogy made a lot of spooky coin for the folks at Blumhouse Productions, so it seemed like a no-brainer that the director would be the one to take the reins on a new trilogy of films based on "The Exorcist." The House that Blum Built spent a pretty penny obtaining the rights to the legendary horror film, which meant there was a lot riding on DGG's first film, "The Exorcist: Believer," to prove this was a prime investment. While the film fortunately brought in over $137 million at the box office against a reported $30 million budget, this doesn't take into consideration the money spent on an aggressive marketing campaign, the astronomical amount they spent for the rights, and lackluster reviews from critics and audiences alike.
The future of the trilogy — with the follow-up film already titled "The Exorcist: Deceiver" — looked grim, but now it seems like Blumhouse is heading back to the drawing board. According to The Hollywood Reporter, David Gordon Green is exiting the series to focus on season 4 of "The Righteous Gemstones" and his upcoming dramedy "Nutcrackers" starring Ben Stiller. THR reports that "The Exorcist: Deceiver" is being taken off of Universal's release calendar for the time being, and that there is an ongoing search for a new director.
Whether or not the following two films need to connect to the groundwork laid by DGG's "Believer" is unclear, and while there will certainly be some wondering why Blumhouse and Universal are even moving forward with more "Exorcist" films, part of the $400 million price tag for the IP came with the caveat of guaranteeing three new features. The question is what will these films look like, and who will be making them?
Blumhouse needs to bet on itself
The reason Blumhouse is one of the most prominent names in horror is that whenever they take big risks, they often change the landscape of the genre. Pursuing a wide release for "Paranormal Activity" was one of the smartest financial decisions in cinema history and ushered in a wave of found footage horror movies. They've spawned multiple franchises since, like the "Insidious" and "The Purge" films, and after nearly 10 years of production hell, "Five Nights at Freddy's" was a bonafide smash hit and gave Blumhouse their biggest box office performance yet. To recover from the disappointing performance of "The Exorcist: Believer," Blumhouse needs to believe (I'm so sorry) in themselves and take another risk by doing something completely different.
Blumhouse recently merged with horror maestro James Wan's Atomic Monster production company, and while I am not a studio exec and merely a dyed-in-the-wood horror fan who somehow tricks publications to give me a platform to voice my opinion, they'd be wise to tap into Wan's creative well. This doesn't necessarily mean passing the torch to Wan himself, but at the very least, trusting his creative instincts and vision as a producer. Every exorcism movie since "The Exorcist" was released in 1973 has been either paying homage or trying to subvert William Friedkin's masterpiece. This is the perfect opportunity for Blumhouse to do something totally unexpected. Forget about possessed kids. Forget about Friedkin's imagery. Make an exorcist film feel wholly unique and reinvent the subgenre. They've done it before, and I believe they can do it again.
It's time to take "The Exorcist: Deceiver" in a completely different direction and make all of the naysayers eat their words.