Sequels are not remakes. We can all agree upon that fact, right? A remake can retain the name alone and basically do whatever it wants as long as it maintains the basic premise of its source material. On the other hand, a sequel usually connects with the film that precedes it, as fans are going to expect certain things out of a movie if you're saying it's a follow-up to the original property. Well, producer Jason Blum, whose Blumhouse Productions did an admirable job with the 2018 Halloween sequel (simply titled, Halloween), aims to do something similar with another one of the most beloved horror movies of all time, The Exorcist.
In fact, Jason Blum compares this new Exorcist sequel that his production company is cooking up to the recent Halloween. While speaking with Den of Geek, Jason Blum shared some details on his plans for the next iteration in the storied horror franchise:
[It’s] going to be like David’s Halloween sequel. I think it’s going to pleasantly surprise all the skeptics out there. We had a lot of skeptics about Halloween and David turned them around, and I think he’s going to turn it around with The Exorcist.
The “David” that Jason Blum is referring to is director David Gordon Green, who managed to connect this recent version of Halloween with the 1978 original. And ultimately, the 2018 movie disregarded every film after the first Halloween, retconning the entire series in the process. Of course, some fans of the long-running franchise (myself included) were not pleased that we had to sit through numerous other Halloween movies of varying quality (with the term "varying quality" being very generous) only to find out that none of those movies are relevant besides the first one.
That said, 2018's Halloween was actually really good for all that it was worth. It should be mentioned that I'm very much in the minority and love Halloween III: Season of the Witch. I'm admittedly also somewhat of a Rob Zombie apologist, who greatly enjoyed his Halloween remake (but can’t stand his Halloween II). Still, I can definitely understand where Jason Blum and co. wanting to scrap the other movies and start anew, even though it may not sit well with some fans of the horror franchise. In the same interview, he continued:
I love to do [these] kinds of movies because people are very emotional about it. I think it’s a high bar and it’s a challenge to do the movie. Remember, most of the audience coming to this—95 percent of the audience who will, if we do our job right, come to see this movie—will not have seen the first Exorcist or even heard of it.
Now, I’m not really sure where Jason Blum is getting this information from that 95% of the audience will NOT have seen the original Exorcist, but I do kind of understand where he’s coming from here as well. The fans of the The Exorcist series (and yes, Exorcist III is awesome), will likely already have feelings on the series and might not even care that the other films are getting erased.
This sequel is, ironically, not for the original fans as, instead, this sequel is more of a soft reboot. And by Jason Blum’s words, it's the kind of film that younger audiences will see and afterwards, will possibly be tempted to check out the original, which he believes only 5% of the audience for this new film will have watched.
Well, I would normally say, “I don’t care. I’m not going to watch a sequel that disregards The Exorcist III.” But I really liked 2018’s Halloween and am looking forward to its follow-ups. So I guess all I can really say is, “Take my money, Mr. Blum, because I want to see what your production company will be doing with The Exorcist.” But what do you think? Are you part of the 95% that Jason Blum thinks has never seen (or even HEARD OF) the original Exorcist? Sound off in the poll below. I’d actually love to know if the first Exorcist is truly starting to become obscure.
This poll is no longer available.
