“The Exorcist: Confession” will be released in theaters worldwide in 2023. The film continues the events of William Friedkin’s horror classic “The Exorcist”, which caused terror and screams of horror in cinemas in 1972. The plan was to release three new installments in theaters, similar to what was the case with the last “Halloween” trilogy. To repeat this success, the producing studios Universal and Blumhouse even relied on the same director: David Gordon Green. For a long time it looked like he would direct the sequel “The Exorcist: Deceiver” (the title in the original) – but nothing has come of that now.
Consistent media reports indicate that David Gordon Green is leaving the sequel and instead focused on working on “Nutcrackers,” a drama starring Ben Stiller (“Night at the Museum”), and the fourth season of the HBO series “The Righteous Gemstones.”
At the same time, the release date for “The Exorcist: Deceiver” has also been postponed indefinitely. The sequel was actually supposed to premiere in German cinemas on April 17, 2025 and in American cinemas a day later. But these plans will not come to fruition, because a suitable director must first be found for the sequel and the production of the film will therefore be postponed en masse.
‘The Exorcist: Confession’ did not meet the (high) expectations
Looking at the raw numbers, you might think the film didn’t do that badly at the box office. With a production budget estimated at $30 million, the horror shocker managed to rake in just over $136 million at the box office, recouping its production costs many times over.
But in this case, the calculation is not so simple, as Universal had previously spent a whopping $400 million on the rights to the cult horror film series. And this amount must of course be made up for with the planned film trilogy.
It was never clearly stated that David Gordon Green would direct all parts of “The Exorcist” trilogy. He himself commented shortly after the theatrical release of “The Exorcist: Confession” and explained it to the , that he would be interested in directing the sequel but “wasn’t officially on board.” Nevertheless, for a long time it seemed that those responsible wanted to build on the success of the new “Halloween” parts and take a similar path with the “Exorcist” trilogy – this was also supported by the already planned release date for the sequel , which can no longer be held due to the search for a suitable director.
It is not clear from the reports whether David Gordon Green will remain involved as a producer on “The Exorcist: Deceiver”.