Started in 2018, the Halloween trilogy ends with Halloween Ends, in theaters since October 12. Director David Gordon Green and Jason Blum have already started work on a new trilogy based on another horror classic.
The new trilogy Halloweenstarted in 2018 by David GordonGreenjust ended with Halloween Endsin theaters since Wednesday, October 12.
Released in 2018, the first feature film totaled 255 million dollars at the international box office (for a budget of 10 million) while the second opus, Halloween Kills, released in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic, garnered 131 million greenbacks (for a budget of 20 million). Figures that have, it seems, given ideas to the director and the producer Jason Blum.
The duo will indeed resurrect another cult horror film, The Exorcistto make it a trilogy.
David Gordon Green and Jason Blum will apply the same formula as for Halloween. That is to say that the plot will follow that of the first film and will not take into account the sequels. The three feature films planned will therefore not take into account the 2 opuses released in 1978 (The Exorcist 2 – the heretic of John Borman) and 1990 (The Exorcist III of William Peter Blatty).
And the duo did not choose this film by chance since The Exorcist is in 7th place in the TOP 10 of the most profitable horror films with 441 million dollars in revenue worldwide (the 1st being the recent remake of That by Andres Muschietti).
Warner Bros.
Almost 50 years after the release of the cult film by William Friedkinthe demon Pazuzu should therefore return to take possession of innocent people.
On the casting side, Ellen Burstynwho played Chris, the mother of young Regan, in the original film, will reprise her role and will be accompanied by Leslie Odom Jr., seen recently in The crime of the Orient Express and hamiltonas well as Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale). We still don’t know if Linda Blair will return as Regan.
The return of Ellen Burstyn
After repeatedly refusing to appear in the sequels to Friedkin’s film, Ellen Burstyn agreed to appear in the casting of that of David Gordon Green.
Asked about it by the American magazine The Hollywood Reporterthe Oscar-winning actress (for her role in Alice is no longer here) claimed he accepted only so he could fund a program for young actors.
She states thus:You know, what happened was that I turned down many versions of The Exorcist 2. I said no every time.
I feel like the devil is asking my price.
This time they offered me a bundle of money and I still said no. And then they surprised me and they came back saying, ‘We doubled the offer. (…) I said, ‘That’s a lot of money. Let me think about it.” The next thought that came to mind was, “I feel like the devil is asking my price.”
Warner Bros.
Ellen Burstyn in “The Exorcist”
And then I thought, “My award is a scholarship program for talented students in our master’s program at Pace University.” So I reconsidered, negotiated my salary up, and ended up getting what I wanted: a scholarship program for young actors.”
Note that William Friedkin will not be involved in the project. When the trilogy was announced, the director who was quite talkative about the social networks said : “There’s a rumor on IMDB that I’m involved in a new version of The Exorcist. It’s not a rumor, it’s an outright lie. There’s not enough money or motivation in the world to make me do this.“
As a reminder, The Exorcist was adapted from the novel by William Peter Blatty. It earned the author an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film also received 10 nominations, including best film and best director, also winning the statuette for best sound. Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller and Linda Blair were also nominated.
The first part of the new trilogy The Exorcist is already dated October 11, 2023.