20 Upcoming Horror Movies That Could Save Franchises

17. Mike Flanagan's The Exorcist

In artistic terms, the Exorcist franchise has basically been deader than disco since 1990 saw the release of the last worthwhile entry, the criminally underappreciated The Exorcist III.

Fans have since suffered through two rancid prequels and David Gordon Green's botched recent attempt at a legacy sequel, The Exorcist: Believer.

This run of duds seemed to suggest that The Exorcist just wasn't built for the long-term franchise treatment, then, and frankly, it would've been fine if it just went away. But Universal was never going to bury this IP, and so, of course, a new reboot was announced within months of The Exorcist: Believer underperforming at the box office.

Universal also turned a lot of heads when they revealed that the legendary Mike Flanagan would be serving as both writer and director of this new feature. Flanagan's exceptional accomplishments in the genre across both film and TV make him one of the few names who could rouse genuine interest in such an obviously creatively bankrupt franchise.

And Hollywood clearly has a lot of faith in Flanagan, given that the film has amassed a stupid-good cast, including Scarlett Johansson, Diane Lane, Jacobi Jupe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Laurence Fishburne, John Leguizamo, alongside many Flanagan regulars like Rahul Kohli, Hamish Linklater, Carl Lumbly, John Gallagher Jr., Carla Gugino, Samantha Sloyan, and yes, his wife Kate Siegel.

If Mike Flanagan can't make a solid Exorcist film, it's probably time for Universal to admit that the IP is well and truly washed.