‘The Exorcist: Believer’ director David Gordon Green has encouraged newcomers to horror franchises to “invest all of themselves” into the series.
The 49-year-old filmmaker handed the reigns to the demonic franchise to Mike Flanagan, 46, after he finished working on ‘The Exorcist: Believer’, and has now stressed filmmakers who board big, pre-established I.Ps need to fully embrace the responsibilities of helming such a popular series if they are to succeed.
During an interview with MovieWeb, Green said: “I certainly want to encourage people to do it, but it's challenging because you want the filmmaker to invest all of themselves in that project.”
Even so, the ‘Halloween Ends’ director added new directors like Flanagan should be mindful of looking after big cinematic series to ensure the franchise avoids any major backlash from fans, such as what was seen with 'Joker: Folie a Deux’.
Green added: “When we're talking about bigger franchises that have legacies and fan bases, that's a really delicate balance.
“Because where I can watch ‘Joker 2’ and also see a very challenging and artful and passionate movie that's made, if you're a different type of fan, you might think, ‘They sabotaged my franchise,’ where I didn't see anything like that.
“All I saw was a very specific, unique, one of a kind voice, doing their interpretation of a character. So I have great appreciation for that.”
Another factor the ‘Nutcrackers’ filmmaker stressed newcomers to horror franchises would have to content with was the budget, though added a smaller budget doesn’t mean you can’t “take swings” in your work.
He explained: “I'm always just like, give me the amount of money that says I'm going to do my version of this. It's responsible, because the budget is, in my case, always limited. But you can take chances, you can take swings, and you can make a passion project that feels very personal to you, even though it might be dabbling in the world of I.P.”
Before Green released ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ last year, the director was due to helm another two entries into the series, but when the movie disappointed critically and commercially, Universal Pictures decided to cancel the planned trilogy.
Instead, the studio opted to pass the franchise to Flanagan, who is going to direct a reimagined version of the original ‘Exorcist’ flick from 1973.
The ‘Doctor Sleep’ director previously said he had fought “aggressively” to reboot the film, and said he only wanted to revisit the horror classic if he found he could add something new to ‘The Exorcist’.
Flanagan explained to The Hollywood Reporter: “We aren't making this easy on ourselves. But I've always felt that there's no point in going into a franchise or into a property that monolithic unless there's something new you can bring.
“I chased 'The Exorcist' very aggressively because I was convinced I had something I could add. This is an opportunity to do something that I believe has never been done within the franchise – something that honours what came before it but isn't built on nostalgia.
“I really just saw an opportunity to make the scariest movie I've ever made. I know expectations are high. No one's more intimidated than I am.”
‘The Exorcist’ is slated to hit theatres in March 2026.
