Mike Flanagan In Talks To Tackle Famed Horror Franchise For Blumhouse

By Andrew Sanford | Film | May 3, 2024 |

By Andrew Sanford | Film | May 3, 2024 |

The Exorcist: Believer was released in October of 2023 to a less than enthusiastic response. Director David Gordon Green and his creative partner Danny McBride were hot off of rebooting the Halloween franchise with a trilogy of films that would also receive a mixed reception. It would then be revealed that David Gordon Green would step away from the franchise and hand the reigns over to someone else. We may know who that person is now.

Deadline has reported that Director Mike Flanagan is currently in talks with Blumhouse and Universal Pictures to direct the sequel, at one point titled The Exorcist: Deceiver. As of this writing, the story has yet to be confirmed by either party, but Deadline claims its sources have confirmed it. So we don’t know a lot, especially regarding how this would affect another Flanagan adaptation.

Mike Flanagan announced that he procured the rights to, and would attempt to adapt, Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. The popular books have been adapted into a movie and a pilot that was never picked up. The news that Mike Flanagan would adapt another piece of King’s work was welcome. Doctor Sleep and Gerald’s Game were often called unfilmable, and he managed both with aplomb. The Dark Tower series has also been described as such, so it would be amazing to see him succeed a third time; If he gets to it.

When Flanagan announced that he had the rights, there was a lot of excitement, but there has been little news since. The WGA and SAG went on strike for almost half a year, which delayed everything, but it makes sense to wonder if any studio will want to take the journey to the Tower with him. He currently has a TV deal with Amazon, but they already passed on a Dark Tower pilot made by Glen Mazzara. That could be for reasons unrelated to the material, but it’s not a great omen.

Flanagan told Fangoria’s The Kingcast in August that the show was in a “healthy place,” albeit “frozen” due to the strike. He also said that he has “every reason to believe that on the other side of the strike, it’s gonna be priority #1.” Things change all the time. He could be taking on another project for non-Dark Tower-related reasons. Still, it is, again, not a great sign. It doesn’t mean The Dark Tower will never happen, but it will delay it more, which could keep it from happening.

For now, we’ll have to wait for updates from Flanagan himself. He is well-suited for either property. His fantastic miniseries, Midnight Mass, more than shows his ability to garner horror from religion. But, he does have a proven track record with unfilmable King books, which makes him a perfect fit to join Roland’s ka-tet. I’ll watch either one, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t prefer the latter.