Last year, it had been reported that Mike Flanagan, who recently premiered his 11th feature, “The Life of Chuck,” is going to direct the next two ‘Exorcist’ films. The first instalment is called “Exorcist: Deceiver.”
A few months later, Blumhouse slapped a March 13, 2026 release date on ‘Deceiver,’ but Flanagan, busy bee that he is, now confirms that he won’t be able to meet that date, let alone start production on the film anytime soon (via Tumblr).
"Production hasn't started [on The Exorcist], we need to finish Carrie first," said Flanagan, referencing his series remake. "No way it's coming out next March. Nothing to worry about though."
Flanagan is said to have total creative freedom for this next chapter in the franchise. It makes sense. A few years ago, filmmaker David Gordon Green called it quits on the franchise and decided to sign on to a couple of indies.
After the poor reception of “Exorcist: Believer,” there had been reporting that a creative re-think would be done for the next two films, this after Green had expressed doubts about his future participation.
Blumhouse owes Universal two more ‘Exorcist’ movies. The studio shelled out a $400M investment for the rights to the franchise. “Exorcist: Believer” was panned by both critics (22% on RT) and audiences (‘C’ CinemaScore) and ended up only grossing $136M. From a business standpoint, a fresh new voice was the way to go with these next few films.
Flanagan no doubt has a lot of pressure to steer the ‘Exorcist’ franchise back into form, and he’s likely going to be taking his time on this one.