Halloween Ends director David Gordon Green was looking for something new, but couldn’t refuse to work with Ellen Burstyn on a new Exorcist film.
Production will begin very soon on a legacy sequel to the exorcist of David Gordon Green in charge. This follows the release of Halloween endsthe third Halloween movie directed by Green. As he neared the end of his time spent in the… Halloween universe, the filmmaker was ready to leave the horror genre with his next project. But that changed when Blumhouse met him with an offer he just couldn’t refuse: working with Ellen Burstyn on a new exorcist movie.
That’s what Green said in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter. He explained how he tried to avoid being too comfortable with horror movies before confirming that Jason Blum is dangling the exorcist for him it was just too good an opportunity to pass up.
“That’s the truth. That’s it. If someone has followed my career, I’m always on left turns. Once I’m comfortable I have to get out of there and start doing something I don’t know and that’s dangerous is and vulnerable. That’s the stuff that really appeals to me. Luckily I’ve been able to exercise that through a lot of comedic work on television and some other things I’ve been able to do in between horror projects. But I really did have the intention of saying: “I’m going to interrupt horror”, as much as I love the genre. It’s certainly been good for me from a creative and financial standpoint, but it was just time to move on until the perfect property and idea came about at the same time. “
The Exorcist was too good to pass up
We might be dealing with another horror movie that brings back an original character for a brand new story, but there are still some differences with the exorcist those got Green quite excited. He is excited about Burstyn and the cast he has and said he is very excited about the screenplay. The filmmaker also teases that he will put in some new blood to make the film feel different.
“So, yes, we are developing The exorcist, and Ellen Burstyn, along with a great cast, is coming together for that, with a script that I’m really excited about. Technically, it’s an extraordinarily different movie than Halloween. I think it’s in the horror subgenre, but dramatically I approach it very academically. So we’ll see. It brings together a lot of the same team in terms of our makeup and effects team and our cameraman, but at the same time we also bring in a new group to complement and evolve in different ways and make sure it’s not redundant or feel repetitive.”
David Gordon Green’s self-titled sequel to the exorcist will be released on October 13, 2023. Green co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Sattler, based on a story by Green, Sattler, Scott Teems and Danny McBride. Together with Ellen Burstyn, Leslie Odom Jr. and Ann Dowd in the movie. There is no word on whether colleague exorcist alum Linda Blair will make an appearance.