The Big Picture
- Director David Gordon Green has left The Exorcist: Deceiver due to the failure of the previous film, The Exorcist: Believer.
- The Exorcist franchise has a history of unsuccessful sequels and attempts to recreate the magic of the original.
- Despite potential future films, there is no substantial audience for another Exorcist movie outside of hardcore horror fans.
On January 11, it was announced that director David Gordon Green had left The Exorcist: Deceiver, the planned second film in his Exorcist trilogy that began with 2023's The Exorcist: Believer. While the reason given for his exit was that Gordon Green was too busy with making The Nutcracker film and HBO's Righteous Gemstones, we know the real reason why he's out: it's because The Exorcist: Believer vomited up pea soup all over the place. It was reviled by critics and audiences alike, and worse, made a meager $65 million domestically at the box office. David Gordon Green had more success with his Halloween trilogy, but it'll be up to Jason Blum of Blumhouse to find a director to keep The Exorcist going. It doesn't matter who Blum taps next, the Exorcist franchise is dead. In truth, it always has been — it's been proven time and time again. But now it can no longer be ignored that the Exorcist franchise needs to be chucked out a window and thrown down some steps to its death.
The Exorcist: Believer
When two girls disappear into the woods and return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, the father of one girl seeks out Chris MacNeil, who's been forever altered by what happened to her daughter fifty years ago.
- Release Date
- October 6, 2023
- Director
- David Gordon Green
- Cast
- Ellen Burstyn , Leslie Odom Jr. , Ann Dowd , Raphael Sbarge
- Main Genre
- Horror
1973's 'The Exorcist' Is One of the Best Horror Films Ever Made
The 1970s was the best era for horror. Not only did we have iconic horror films such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Black Christmas, Jaws, and Halloween, but before all of them came 1973's The Exorcist. Based on the popular novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty, and directed by William Friedkin, who was coming off a Best Director Oscar win for The French Connection, The Exorcist wasn't just another run-of-the-mill horror film. Before it scared the hell out of you, it aimed to make you care. The relationship between Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) and her young daughter Regan (Linda Blair) is so loving that our stomachs are already in knots before any of the horror starts because we already feel so much for these characters.
'The Exorcist' Review: After Nearly Five Decades, It's Still Terrifying
"What an excellent day for an exorcism."When the horror does start, few movies compare to The Exorcist. Its crudeness and vulgarity are shocking, even five decades later. The brutality of Regan's possession, along with performances from Max von Sydow and Jason Miller as the priests tasked with saving Regan's soul, come together for one of the genre's most powerful endings. The perfection of The Exorcistled to ten Oscar nominations. It was the rare horror film to possess pop culture so deeply. You have to remember that this was a time before demon-possession movies had been done to death. The world had never seen anything like it before. Adjusted for inflation, it's the ninth-biggest box office draw in the history of American films. AFI ranks it as the third most thrilling American film ever made. You could find The Exorcist in Saturday Night Live sketches, and even later, a parody film with Leslie Nielsen and Linda Blair called Repossessed. With that kind of popularity, it's no surprise that a sequel was attempted. However, just like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Jaws, and Halloween later found out with their own franchises, recreating the magic of the original was impossible.
Every Sequel to 'The Exorcist' Has Failed
In 1977, a sequel was released titled The Exorcist II: The Heretic andIt had problems from the start. Neither William Friedkin nor William Peter Blatty came back. It was up to director John Boorman to find a way to compare to the original. Although Ellen Burstyn didn't return, Linda Blair did; but even with Richard Burton by her side, it didn't matter. The Exorcist II: The Heretic is regarded as one of the worst horror movies ever made. It received abysmal reviews and made just $30 million at the box office, a drop in the bucket compared to the record-breaking original. Friedkin himself tried to watch it once but stopped 40 minutes in because he hated it so much.
The sequel was so bad that there was no appetite for a follow-up. One was finally attempted in 1990 with The Exorcist III. William Friedkin, Linda Blair, and Ellen Burstyn weren't involved, but William Peter Blatty was back, not just writing the screenplay, which was based on his novel Legion, but also directing. He even had an icon in the lead with George C. Scott. The reviews for the third film were mediocre, but the box office receipts were even worse than the hated sequel from 13 years earlier, tallying up a mere $26 million. Over the years, The Exorcist III has found a cult following with its compelling murder mystery storyline, excellent jump scare, and phenomenal performance from Brad Dourif — but it has never gained mainstream popularity.
It felt like Hollywood understood that an Exorcist franchise wasn't wanted and didn't work. By the early 2000s, the horror remake craze had begun, and while a remake for The Exorcist wasn't attempted, there was a venture to outsmart the sequel failures by creating a prequel. What resulted was a complete mess. Paul Schader was brought in to direct, with Stellan Skarsgård as the lead actor; but when Schrader refused Warner Bros. demands for reshoots, he was fired and Renny Harlin was brought in to make it into the scarier film Warner Bros. wanted. The result, 2004's Exorcist: The Beginning, was trashed by critics and made just $42 million domestically on an $80 million budget. Then someone had a not-so-bright idea. Hey, no one liked this version, so how about we release Schrader's take? The next year, we got to see Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist. The reviews were nearly as bad, and with so little demand, it only received a limited theatrical release before going to DVD. The Exorcist franchise had gone from one of the biggest and best movies ever made to becoming two disastrous cuts of the same film being thrown out, with the last damn near going straight to DVD.
There Is No Interest in an 'Exorcist' Franchise
In 2016, The Exorcist returned, but thankfully not as a feature film. The public had rejected that idea over and over again. Instead, the franchise came back as a network television series for FOX simply titled The Exorcist. Though it got good reviews, viewership was bad. That shouldn't have been a surprise. If we weren't turning out for a movie, why would we dedicate ourselves to watching it every week? Despite the quality and the passion put into the project, The Exorcist was exorcised from the airwaves after two seasons.
David Gordon Green did a great job of resurrecting the Halloween franchise. Horrible sequels and Rob Zombie's disgusting takes had destroyed The Shape. David Gordon Green brought it back with 2018's Halloween. No matter what you think about Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, he should be commended for what he did with that first film. But when the news came out that Blumhouse was bringing him back for a stab at another horror icon, and as another trilogy with The Exorcist, there was no excitement. Why should there have been? Halloween has its fans. So does Scream, which is why it came back despite the death of Wes Craven. Friday the 13th has its diehard fanatics, and despite the fact that a lawsuit kept the franchise buried since 2009, that fervor resulted in the announcement of a prequel TV series. But when do you see diehard Exorcist franchise fans? You'll find people who love the dumbest of Halloween and Friday the 13th sequels, but who is out there raving about their undying love for Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist? There is no audience outside of the beloved original.
The Exorcist: Deceiver and another film to complete the trilogy will most likely happen. Jason Blum isn't going to let go of any big name IP that could make him a few dollars. Perhaps his search for a director will even result in a big name taking the gig. And maybe that's exactly what the franchise needs. Perhaps Demián Rugna, who gave us one of the best horror films of 2023, When Evil Lurks, could provide a thrilling and well-made film. Still, outside of hardcore horror fans, there isn't a substantial audience for yet another Exorcist movie. The most pathetic part of The Exorcist: Believer was the horrible misuse of Ellen Burstyn. She was brought back for a few scenes as Chris MacNeil, a useless bit of nostalgia that ended with Chris having her eyes stabbed out. That was the death knell for a franchise that should have never been. To keep making more movies would only feel like our own eyes were being ripped out. Make it stop. The power of Christ compels you!
The Exorcist: Believer, for its sins, is available to stream on Peacock in the U.S.
