New 'Exorcist' Movie Will Be Similar To 2018's 'Halloween,' According To Producer Jason Blum

Sooner or later, someone was going to remake or reboot The Exorcist. The original film remains iconic and just as scary as ever, and while nearly all the sequels (except Exorcist III) have been disasters, that won't stop Hollywood from going back to this well again and again. Last Christmas we learned that the fright masters at Blumhouse were officially teaming with Morgan Creek for a new Exorcist film, and Halloween director David Gordon Green was in talks to helm. Now, Blumhouse head honcho Jason Blum has dropped some hints regarding what we can expect from the new Exorcist.

The Exorcist is a classic. William Friedkin's nerve-shredding tale of demonic possession still has the power to terrify, and whenever a film achieves that kind of iconic status, the thought of a remake or reboot can often be appalling. But that won't stop producers who see the potential for more money! That cynical take aside, there are plenty of examples of remakes and reboots that turn out well, so who knows? Maybe Blumhouse's Exorcist will surprise us all.

Jason Blum certainly hopes so! Speaking with Den of Geek (not to be confused with the masterpiece Den of Thieves), the super-producer offered some encouraging words about the project. "[It's] going to be like David [Gordon Green]'s Halloween sequel," Blum said. "I think it's going to pleasantly surprise all the skeptics out there. We had a lot of skeptics about Halloween and David turned them around, and I think he's going to turn it around with The Exorcist."

"I want to make a movie that works for both [audiences]," says Blum. "I want to make a movie for people that know and love the first Exorcist and are furious that we're doing this, but somehow drag themselves to the theater. I want them to come out happy. And I want to make a movie that people who've never heard of The Exorcist really enjoy. I think David did that with Halloween. I think he'll do that with The Exorcist also."

So what can we extrapolate from Jason Blum's comments? When he says that the new Exorcist is going to be like David Gordon Green's Halloween, is he implying we're getting some sort of legacy sequel? Will the adult Regan MacNeil deal with her traumatic childhood possession? The thing is, they already made that movie – that storyline, of an older Regan still haunted by the events of the first film, was used for Exorcist II: The Heretic, and it was awful.

Then again, if this new Exorcist is following the Halloween model closely, that could also mean it's going to pretend all the other Exorcist movies don't exist. And that would be a bit of a bummer, because Exorcist III is a damn fine film (it's okay to ignore all the others, though). We'll hopefully learn more about this new Exorcist soon, because I'm mighty curious to see where this is all going.