Mike Flanagan Teases Reunion With Star of His Underrated Stephen King Sequel for ‘Exorcist’ Project
Mike Flanagan, the director of horror hits like Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game, and Ouija: Origin of Evil, has been selected as the filmmaker with enough of a vision to reboot The Exorcist franchise. After The Exorcist: Believer, Blumhouse decided to call it quits with David Gordon Green, and has put the franchise in the hands of a director who will try to make the “scariest movie of all time.” The project is still in early development, but Flanagan has revealed that he has talked to an actor for an undisclosed role in the film. It is none other than Dune‘s Rebecca Ferguson, who previously worked with him in Doctor Sleep, giving life to the villain Rose the Hat.
Per the report by CBR, Flanagan was recently at the Motor City Comic Con, where he was featured on a panel with his partner and longtime collaborator, Kate Siegel. During the event, Flanagan was asked about his Exorcist project, and he confirmed that he talked to Ferguson when the project was announced. The director jokes, saying Ferguson is staying busy at the moment with Dune, Silo, and A House of Dynamite: “[She’s been busy with a] little indie project called Dune, and she’s on Season 3 of Silo right now. She still finds the time to do, like, one of the biggest movies on Netflix right now.” However, he also admits that they have talked about his Exorcist reboot, which still remains untitled:
“She’s prolific, but we’re in constant contact. Once, every couple of months, I hear from Rebecca just saying, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ And I’ll say, ‘Hey! Would you like to come do this part? I’d love to talk to you about this thing.’
“She’s always booked, but one of these days, it’ll work out for sure. I can’t give away the name of the character, but when I first got The Exorcist, she was one of my first phone calls.”
What Is Mike Flanagan’s Next Project?
2025 was a great year for Mike Flanagan. His latest Stephen King feature The Life of Chuck saw the light of day, and it received acclaim by most, who celebrated the non-horror approach by two of the genre’s masters. It was also the year the director was able to make his vision of King’s Carrie come true. The series recently wrapped its production and is now entering a post-production process. A release date hasn’t been announced, but stick around for updates.
Flanagan’s next projects are perhaps two of the most important in his career. He’s still developing King’s magnum opus The Dark Tower for a television adaptation, but according to his own words, we will have to be a bit patient. The filmmaker recently said it will take “a long time” until more of that is revealed. Given how The Dark Tower is such an ambitious project, Flanagan will probably work on The Exorcist in parallel. Nevertheless, if the director can fully reboot the demonic possession franchise without the intervention of Jason Blum, he will also take his time to deliver something worthy.
