David Gordon Green Exits ‘Exorcist: Believer’ Sequel As Universal Pulls Its Release Date

Well, given the lack of success of The Exorcist: Believer, and the quick-to-follow reports that David Gordon Green might not direct any future sequels, this news should surprise nobody. Universal and Blumhouse are in need for a new director as Green has officially exited the franchise, a rebooted legacy sequel to the classic 1973 horror.

Titled The Exorcist: Deceiver, the film had already been set for an April 18th 2025 release, but it has been yanked off the schedule. Instead, Universal has placed Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic on that date. It seems like a major retooling effort is needed before Exorcist is given a new date.

Exorcist: Believer was a huge flop at the box office, earning just $136M worldwide. That number is especially painful because Universal dropped a hefty $400M to acquire the rights and launch a trilogy, but the plan is off to a rough start and who knows if Exorcist: Deceiver even happens.

While it was previously suggested Green could turn his focus to a Garbage Pail Kids movie, THR says his attention will actually go to season four of The Righteous Gemstones, as well as Nutcrackers, a comedy he’s doing with Ben Stiller.

It’s possible Blumhouse quickly recovers from this and Exorcist moves forward without much delay. If anyone can pull it off, it’s them.

Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.