The Exorcist: Deceiver

[BluBonnet]

Universal’s ‘The Exorcist: Deceiver’ Sequel to Debut in 2025

The Exorcist: Deceiver, the second sequel in a new trilogy from director David Gordon Green, will get a wide release on April 18, 2025.

News of the 2025 release for the second chapter in The Exorcist franchise from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions follows the unveiling of the first trailer for The Exorcist: Believer screening in theaters last weekend behind screenings of Universal Pictures’ Oppenheimer.

The trailer, with Ellen Burstyn once again battling demons, debuted online on Tuesday.

The first film in a planned trilogy, The Exorcist: Believer, will be released theatrically on Oct. 13, 2023. Also from director Gordon Green, the first chapter in the trilogy has Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom, Jr.) after raising his daughter, Angela, played by Lidya Jewett, after his wife’s death 12 years earlier facing a chain of events that will force the father to confront the nadir of evil.

For the first time since the 1973 film, Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn reprises her iconic role as Chris MacNeil in the new The Exorcist trilogy.

William Friedkin directed the original The Exorcist, which became a sensation in 1973, has since grossed over $441 million in total, making it the highest domestic grossing horror film over a 48-year-long run. The film told the tale of a 12-year-old girl possessed by a mysterious entity and the lengths her mother and two Catholic priests go to in an attempt to save her.

[BluBonnet]

'The Exorcist: Deceiver' Sets 2025 Release Date

When David Gordon Green breathed new life into the old Shape with his Halloween trilogy, fans of John Carpenter’s original 1978 slasher were thrilled to see not just another remake of the classic story but the next chapter in the life of final girl, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). The films’ success no doubt helped Green move on to his latest project - a sequel to the William Friedkin-helmed 1973 horror legend, The Exorcist. While a handful of films have come out following the original title, with various prequels and sequels released over the five decades since it first shocked audiences and critics to their core, Green will take a page from his turn in Halloween, disregarding all the other The Exorcist-based lore and simply moving forward from the first film. Giving the green light to Green and his team, today it was announced that the second movie in his hopeful trilogy, The Exorcist: Deceiver, will arrive in theaters on April 18, 2025.

If you were one of the thousands of people who flocked to theaters over the weekend to see Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, there’s a good chance that you caught the first viewing of the trailer for The Exorcist: Believer. For those who aren’t a part of that group, the official trailer was released today, promising perhaps even more shock and gore than the first film delivered all those years ago. In Believer, Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.) is a father in trouble after his daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett) and her friend Katherine (Olivia Marcum) begin to exhibit strange and sinister behaviors following three days lost in the woods with no memory of their time in the wilderness. Finding no help anywhere they look, Victor and Katherine’s mother (Jennifer Nettles) will reach out to perhaps the only person who can help them now - Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn).

Also appearing in the film are Ann Dowd (Hereditary), Okwui Okpokwasili (Madeline’s Madeline) and Raphael Sbarge (Once Upon a Time). While Burstyn’s Chris MacNeil, who audiences will remember from The Exorcist as the troubled mother willing to do anything to bring a demonic entity out of her daughter, Regan (Linda Blair), it’s unclear whether Blair will return for any of Green’s upcoming sequels.

The Legacy Lives On

After watching the unsettling trailer for Green’s The Exorcist: Believer, it’s clear that Universal Pictures tapped the right director for the job. Based on the William Peter Blatty novel of the same name, the Friedkin-helmed film would go on to gain not only a spot among other horror classics but also earn itself the bragging rights of the first-ever film of its kind to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. For those looking to relive the first fright, The Exorcist arrives on 4K, Blu-ray and digital this fall in honor of its 50th anniversary.

[wonderer99]

Oh for God sake, make one good film first and then, if earned, a sequel will follow.

David Gordon Green needs to come down off his high horse and concentrate on a single decent film at a time instead of shitting out new trilogies left and right. What franchise will he take a dump on after this?

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by wonderer99

Oh for God sake, make one good film first and then, if earned, a sequel will follow.

David Gordon Green needs to come down off his high horse and concentrate on a single decent film at a time instead of shitting out new trilogies left and right. What franchise will he take a dump on after this?

Do you think this one might be cancelled if Believer doesn't do so well?

[wonderer99]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

Do you think this one might be cancelled if Believer doesn't do so well?

I live in a world where currently a Barbie movie is destroying everything in its path while MI and Indiana Jones flounder. I have given up predicting anything anymore.

[Walter Kafka]

Originally Posted by wonderer99

I live in a world where currently a Barbie movie is destroying everything in its path while MI and Indiana Jones flounder. I have given up predicting anything anymore.

Generational turnover. It doesn't happen all at once, but you do see moments where it's apparent. On the other hand, horror is a safe investment, because it never goes out of style. The Exorcist branding appeals to boomers. Younger folk just see it.

[DThompson]

Has a Blumhouse movie never made profit? Feels like he makes everything with a really reasonable budget so it's probably really hard for them to not make money. I'd say this is a safe bet to happen whether Believer is any good or not.

[OnlyJapantown]

Such a pity that Green has ended up doing these crap horror movies. I know hoping for him to go back to the days of George Washington and All the Real Girls is foolish, but his comedy movie run after Pineapple Express was at least good honest fun.

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by OnlyJapantown

Such a pity that Green has ended up doing these crap horror movies. I know hoping for him to go back to the days of George Washington and All the Real Girls is foolish, but his comedy movie run after Pineapple Express was at least good honest fun.

[Bugg]

Originally Posted by wonderer99

Oh for God sake, make one good film first and then, if earned, a sequel will follow.

David Gordon Green needs to come down off his high horse and concentrate on a single decent film at a time instead of shitting out new trilogies left and right. What franchise will he take a dump on after this?

Blumhouse was already paid $400m by Universal to deliver a trilogy. It does not matter how good or bad the first film performs. Universal probably cannot cancel after 1 film and get a refund, and Blumhouse is contractually obligated to make 3 movies. It sounds insane, but two years ago when the deal was made, all these studios were throwing a ton of money around, thinking that they would be making gobs of sweet green cash, when their streaming services would be unstoppable money machines for them.

I'm sure today, a lot of studios are regretting the deals they made.

[BloodshotUSA]

I bet DGG doesn't direct the second and third films. Rumors are that he regretted signing onto another trilogy and filming Exorcist: Believer wasn't a good time for him.

[Walter Kafka]

Originally Posted by BloodshotUSA

I bet DGG doesn't direct the second and third films. Rumors are that he regretted signing onto another trilogy and filming Exorcist: Believer wasn't a good time for him.

Exorcist: The Rise of Pazuzu.

[wonderer99]

Originally Posted by Bugg

Blumhouse was already paid $400m by Universal to deliver a trilogy. It does not matter how good or bad the first film performs. Universal probably cannot cancel after 1 film and get a refund, and Blumhouse is contractually obligated to make 3 movies. It sounds insane, but two years ago when the deal was made, all these studios were throwing a ton of money around, thinking that they would be making gobs of sweet green cash, when their streaming services would be unstoppable money machines for them.

I'm sure today, a lot of studios are regretting the deals they made.

Well all I can say is 2023 seems to be the year studios are learning lots of hard lessons.

Take DGG out the equation and still nothing tells you that you should be undertaking a trilogy from the go. The last two Exorcist films, The Beginning and Dominion pretty much died at the box office and the TV show was cancelled after 2 seasons. Throw in the reception for Halloween Kills and Ends and what on earth is telling the studio a 3 film deal is a good idea?

[Walter Kafka]

Originally Posted by Bugg

Blumhouse was already paid $400m by Universal to deliver a trilogy. It does not matter how good or bad the first film performs. Universal probably cannot cancel after 1 film and get a refund, and Blumhouse is contractually obligated to make 3 movies. It sounds insane, but two years ago when the deal was made, all these studios were throwing a ton of money around, thinking that they would be making gobs of sweet green cash, when their streaming services would be unstoppable money machines for them.

I'm sure today, a lot of studios are regretting the deals they made.

They didn't ask me. I could have given them a trilogy for 399 million.

[Mikezilla3k]

Originally Posted by wonderer99

David Gordon Green needs to come down off his high horse and concentrate on a single decent film at a time instead of shitting out new trilogies left and right. What franchise will he take a dump on after this?

Halloween Ends. Deal with it LOL.

Also, we really acting like the Exorcist Franchise was all banger after banger since The Heretic? Really?

[Jay Mammoth]

If it’s as good as his Halloween trilogy I’m in.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by wonderer99

Throw in the reception for Halloween Kills and Ends and what on earth is telling the studio a 3 film deal is a good idea?

They still pulled in $100 million each.

[jess1581]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

They still pulled in $100 million each.

Diminishing returns was really harsh though.The chart for Ends on the-numbers site showed a near flatline after opening weekend. I was shocked. It dropped 81% before even reaching Halloween weekend. You'd figure, it'd make money until November.

It's cool and all that they gave DGG a swing at Exorcist, but a trilogy?

[DThompson]

Weren't Kills and Ends released on streaming the same day as theatrical? Kills I understand since it was the pandemic. Was weird they decided to do the same with Ends.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by jess1581

Diminishing returns was really harsh though.The chart for Ends on the-numbers site showed a near flatline after opening weekend. I was shocked. It dropped 81% before even reaching Halloween weekend. You'd figure, it'd make money until November.

True, but it's still a lot of money for two slasher sequels.