Mike Flanagan teases ‘unique takes’ on The Exoricist reboot and Carrie
Director Mike Flanagan has teased his 'Exorcist' reboot and 'Carrie' TV show will have "unique takes" that are "feeling surprisingly timely".
Mike Flanagan has teased his ‘Exorcist’ reboot and ‘Carrie’ TV show will both have “unique takes” on the horror franchises.
The 46-year-old director is due to helm a reimagining of the classic 1973 horror flick and a small-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s 1974 novel for Amazon MGM Studios, and has now hinted both his projects will offer audiences new spooky experiences that are “feeling surprisingly timely”.
He told a fan on Bluesky: "Our unique takes on both 'The Exorcist' and 'Carrie' are feeling surprisingly timely..."
Before Flanagan took over ‘The Exorcist’ franchise, director David Gordon Green was set to helm his own trilogy, though was dropped from the series after his 2023 movie ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ failed to impress commercially or critically.
In September, Flanagan said he was looking to “add” something new to ‘The Exorcist’ mythology, and fought “very aggressively” to acquire the rights to the series.
He told The Hollywood Reporter at the time: “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’ - which starred Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller and Max von Sydow - followed a local priest who is called to free a young girl from the clutches of the demon Pazuzu.
As well as vowing to bring a fresh energy to the series, the ‘Doctor Sleep’ filmmaker teased his ‘Exorcist’ reboot - which is slated to hit cinemas in March 2026 - would be a “radical new take” on the horror classic.
He said in a statement: “‘The Exorcist’ is one of the reasons I became a filmmaker, and it is an honour to have the chance to try something fresh, bold, and terrifying within its universe.”
While promising to make “the scariest movie of all time”, Flanagan insisted he would pay tribute to the original by creating a film that would shock and terrify modern audiences the same way the first picture did in 1973.
Speaking on a panel during FanExpo Canada in August, he said: “The original ‘Exorcist’ is a formative film for me. I've only once in my career felt this feeling of stepping into the shadow of a monolith. I'm already nauseous every day about ‘The Exorcist’.
“When it came out, it was the scariest movie of all time at that time. Modern audiences don't necessarily connect with the film the same way, so my mission for this is to try to make it the scariest movie of the time. If I can do that, then I hope it will connect with people.”
