Director Mike Flanagan has said his take on The Exorcist won’t make its March 2026 release date, while Universal has removed it from its schedule.
We do appreciate how Mike Flanagan isn’t averse to telling the public what’s happening in his life, especially given how he often doesn’t often follow the usual convention of remaning tight-lipped about top-secret things. From sharing stories on his blog detailing pitch meetings to talking about DC Studios’ Clayface film now that he’s no longer involved with it, Flanagan often gives us a valuable peek inside the studio system.
Well, the horror maestro has done it again, responding to a fan question on Tumblr about his upcoming take on The Exorcist originally due to release next March, courtesy of Blumhouse and Universal. Or at least it was set to release next March until Flanagan told the fan that, “Production hasn’t started, we need to finish Carrie first. No way it’s coming out next March. Nothing to worry about though.”
Presumably, some kind of alarm then started blaring in Universal’s offices and the studio scrambled its public relations team to issue a change to its upcoming slate. That March 2026 slot has now been replaced by an untitled Blumhouse film, and Flanagan’s take on The Exorcist has been removed from the release schedule entirely.
Read more: The Exorcist | The strange story of its two prequels
We like this story a lot. A creator unafraid to be frank with the public ahead of studio slate-shifting does wonders for the project’s credibility. And even though his Exorcist project may have now vanished from Universal’s schedule, the move won’t be surrounded by the attendant gossip and headlines suggesting all is not well, because the creator has gotten in front of the story. And let’s be honest, the next Exorcist film needs any help it can get in that regard given that Blumhouse’s reinvention of the horror series hasn’t really gone to plan so far.
We also like this story because – from the outside looking in at least – Flanagan is being given time to make a really great Carrie TV show for Amazon MGM – and then hopefully, a great Exorcist film for Universal, and that way everybody wins. We’ll bring you more on this one as we hear it.
