Mike Flanagan at the helm of the new Exorcist?

The creator of The Haunting of Hill House “saves” the new trilogy adapted from the cult film by William Friedkin.

If there's one horror film to know, it's The Exorcist of William Friedkin. Featuring a little girl possessed by a demonic entity called Pazuzu and two priests who try to exorcise her, this film, released in France in 1974, has become cult. Its music played on the piano is recognizable from the first notes, its exorcism scenes where the main character rushes down the stairs head upside down, contorts his neck as much as possible, vomits and insults the monk in the following way: 'your mother sucks cock in Hell” are taken up and parodied everywhere in the cinema. With two Oscar nominations including for best film, and four Golden Globes, the success of the film is such that a franchise is born and reborn with Mike Flanagan the controls.

The Exorcist is 50 years old: William Friedkin's cult film can be seen again on 4K blu-ray

After the failure of The Exorcist: Devotion released in 2023, its director, David Gordon Green (Halloween, Halloween Ends, Halloween Kills) left the boat last January while he was preparing The Exorcist: Deceiver planned for 2025, following this new trilogy. To replace him, Blumhouse and Universal Pictures have bet on Mike Flanagan, one of the most popular horror directors in recent years.

Known in cinema for Ouija: the origins and the sequel to The Shining by Kubrick (just that), Doctor Sleep, Mike Flanagan has built a reputation in the genre. With his latest film, he skillfully manages to reconcile fans of Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick. On the small screen, it's with Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House and her little sisters The Hauting of Bly Manor And The Fall of the House of Usher that he is successful. With its mix of horror and fantasy (and a hyper-loyal casting, worthy of a theater troupe), The Haunting of Hill House dusts off and renews the genre of haunted houses by giving it a more psychological approach where the house visually embodies the spirit of the characters.

After The Exorcist 2: The Heretic (1977), The Exorcist, the sequel (1990), The Exorcist: In the Beginning (2000) and Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005), and a television series, will Mike Flanagan manage to save the franchise on the big screen?

For the moment we do not know if the American will direct one or more films in the trilogy. Last year, he announced a new adaptation of another Stephen King novel, Chuck's lifewith Mark Hamill And Tom Hilddleston.

Jessie, Hill House, Usher… Welcome to the “Flanaverse”