The hype surrounding Mike Flanagan’s upcoming Exorcist project gets more intense as days roll by, but there are also so many thoughts about the previous installments that heavily bombed at the box office. It took many years in between before the franchise produced follow-ups, simply because it wasn’t meant to be a cinematic universe.
What’s more upsetting is the fact that Guillermo del Toro almost helmed the unfortunate 2005 prequel movie, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, which already leaves us fans thinking he could have singlehandedly saved it. The project eventually went to Paul Schrader.
Guillermo del Toro could have saved the Exorcist prequel movie
The ill-fated Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist joined Guillermo del Toro’s list of unrealized projects despite it being his niche. The director, who is known for his love for monsters and all things gothic horror, turned down the project to focus on Hellboy.
Paul Schrader’s movie was not received well by fans and critics. His attempt at a literate discussion on human sins and temptations was commendable, but the story itself lacked gravitas. This is where del Toro’s forte comes in.
The famed filmmaker has admitted in the past that he’s a lapsed Catholic, although it does not mean he had no faith in anything. In fact, he strongly believes there is a higher power that one can reach out to through ethical purity. His personal experience and struggle with religion would have reflected well in the prequel movie.
William Friedkin, director of the original 1973 The Exorcist, did not like the sequel movies and publicly slammed John Boorman’s Exorcist II: The Heretic, calling it “the worst piece of sh— I’ve ever seen,” (The Movies That Made Me podcast via Entertainment Weekly).
He felt sorry that it had a star-studded cast—Richard Burton, Max von Sydow, Louise Fletcher, Linda Blair, and James Earl Jones—who had to act through a mediocre storyline. To further emphasize his annoyance, Friedkin remarked that it was “the worst 40 minutes of film” he had ever seen.
In retrospect, del Toro could have handled the sequel and the prequel movies better. He’s a huge fan of the late filmmaker, who was also his mentor and a dear friend in the filmmaking industry.
Mike Flanagan plans to revive the Exorcist franchise with a new story
Mike Flanagan is a prolific director with so much experience in helming horror franchises, so even though some of us are probably wishing del Toro had picked up the upcoming Exorcist movie, there’s a sense of trust that alleviates our worry knowing the project is in good hands.
The rest of the Exorcist films pale in comparison with the original one, and according to Flanagan, there is no use remaking it or trying to continue the narrative. This is why he plans to give it a fresh take, a new story that rhymes with the very core of the franchise without trying to retread or replace it.
The Exorcist movies are currently available to watch on Prime Video.
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