Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson is formally taking the lead in The Exorcist franchise, marking her first main dive into full-blown horror. In keeping with a report in Deadline, the two-time Oscar nominee was locked in to star within the subsequent installment of the enduring sequence, written and directed by Mike Flanagan.
“Scarlett is a superb actress whose charming performances all the time really feel grounded and actual, from style movies to summer time blockbusters, and I couldn’t be happier to have her be part of this Exorcist movie,” Mike was quoted as saying.
The untitled characteristic will turn into the seventh movie within the long-running franchise, which started with the 1973 Oscar winner starring Ellen Burstyn. It would “inform an all-new story set in The Exorcist universe and isn’t a sequel to 2023’s The Exorcist: Believer.”
In keeping with reviews, each Common and Blumhouse seem decided to steer the sequence in a really totally different course after Believer didn’t spawn the worthwhile trilogy that had been envisioned. Whereas the earlier movie earned round $136 million globally on a $30 million spend, it nonetheless fell far wanting expectations — particularly in gentle of the studios’ $400 million funding to safe rights for 3 movies. The monetary efficiency, coupled with poor critiques, led director David Gordon Inexperienced to exit the franchise and left the trilogy plans shelved.
Mike — who has constructed a repute as considered one of horror’s most distinctive voices with initiatives like The Haunting of Hill Home and Gerald’s Recreation — is now taking the reins. Although his theatrical outings have seen different industrial outcomes (Ouija: Origin of Evil hit massive, Physician Sleep much less so), he has described this new Exorcist challenge as “the scariest film I’ve ever made.”
In the meantime, Scarlett’s casting indicators severe franchise ambition. She lately helped Jurassic World: Rebirth dominate the worldwide field workplace with almost $869 million worldwide, proving her franchise muscle stays unmatched. Insiders say scheduling needed to be coordinated round a few her upcoming initiatives, however this movie is predicted to maneuver up the precedence slate.
Scarlett— who has been increasing her artistic footprint — made her directorial debut this 12 months with Eleanor the Nice, which premiered at Cannes. She is going to subsequent be seen in James Grey’s Paper Tiger reverse Miles Teller and Adam Driver. The actor has beforehand gained a Tony Award for A View From the Bridge and a BAFTA for Misplaced in Translation, together with double Oscar nominations in 2019 for Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit.