David Gordon Green won’t be performing another exorcism as it’s been announced that he has exited The Exorcist: Deceiver. It’s not exactly surprising given the negative reception that The Exorcist: Believer received, but this means that the sequel will be pushed back as Universal and Blumhouse search for a new director.
The Exorcist: Deceiver was originally slated to hit theaters on April 18, 2025, but the sequel has been taken off the schedule. After a disappointing box-office opening, the word on the street was that the sequels would likely be reworked; after all, the studios did spend $400 million to acquire the rights to the trilogy. The Exorcist: Believer ended its theatrical run with $137 million; not bad for a $30 million budget, but hardly what Universal was expecting from the return of a major horror franchise.
David Gordon Green previously said that he might not direct the other Exorcist sequels. “My intention is just to start making things, and as those plans come together, if I find myself in that [The Exorcist: Deceiver] director’s chair, I’d be thrilled… But right now, I’m navigating it from a story perspective and looking at my realities of life as I pivot,” Green said. “One of the things that’s been really great between these horror franchises is doing that comedy series on HBO, The Righteous Gemstones. So it’s fun to be able to step away, take a deep breath, have a big laugh, and then get back to work in the genre.”
“Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding has raised their daughter on his own,” reads the official synopsis for The Exorcist: Believer. “But when Angela and her friend Katherine, disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil.” In addition to Ellen Burstyn reprising her role of Chris MacNeil, The Exorcist: Believer also stars Leslie Odom Jr., Ann Dowd, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Lidya Jewett, Olivia Marcum, and more.
Now that David Gordon Green is out, who would you like to see direct The Exorcist: Deceiver?