The official release date for Universal’s next Exorcist film, which is helmed by Mike Flanagan—best known for his work on Doctor Sleep—has been announced.
The movie from Hollywood is slated to open in theatres on Friday, March 13, 2026.
This new project, which is a partnership between Blumhouse and Morgan Creek, is billed as a “radical new take” on the venerable horror series that scared moviegoers for the first time in 1973.
Why does this story matter?
Inspired by Roland Doe’s actual 1949 exorcism, William Peter Blatty wrote the 1971 novel The Exorcist, which was eventually made into a 1973 film.
In 2016, a TV series on 20th Century Fox Television gave the story a fresh start.
Plans for a remake changed by 2020, and a direct sequel will now open in theatres in 2023.
But after the movie bombed, the ambitious plan to create a trilogy was abandoned in favour of a new start.
New ‘Exorcist’ movie: A fresh direction, not a sequel
In their own words, the next project is “not a sequel” to any of the previous Exorcist films. Rather, it sets the venerable franchise on a new path.
The disappointing box office results of the previous film, The Exorcist: Believer, which brought in $65.5 million in the US and Canada and $136.2 million worldwide, led to this choice.
In July 2021, NBCUniversal, Peacock, and Blumhouse paid $400 million to Morgan Creek for the franchise rights.
Flanagan and Blumhouse reunite for ‘Exorcist’ production
Trevor Macy, representing Intrepid Pictures, and Flanagan, under his own Red Room Pictures banner, will produce the upcoming film. John Scherer is involved in the Intrepid Pictures initiative as well.
Flanagan and Blumhouse have worked together on four projects in total, including Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016), Hush (2016), and Oculus (2013).
In addition to these films, Flanagan is a prominent writer and director of a number of other works, such as the Netflix miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher from the previous year.
Meanwhile, Flanagan is currently occupied with ‘The Life of Chuck’
Recently, a first-look picture of Tom Hiddleston in the role of Charles Krantz from The Life of Chuck was released. The photograph shows a 39-year-old seemingly normal man who dies from a brain tumour.
The picture, which was directed by Flanagan, stars Mark Hamill, Matthew Lillard, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and more.
This is a meaningful “homecoming” for Flanagan, who is thrilled to be making his Toronto International Film Festival debut. He remembered how his career took off there with Oculus in 2013.
