Mike Flanagan. Photo: Getty Images
Like a possessed girl spewing bile, Mike Flanagan feels “nauseous” about his version of The Exorcist, and he spilled it at New York Comic Con. On the second day, Oct. 19, podcaster Josh Horowitz, along with Flanagan, frequent collaborator Kate Siegel (who is also his real-life spouse), Carla Gugino, and Rahul Kohli, will be hosting a new episode of “Happy Sad.” A live episode of “Confused” was held. To keep his inner self in check, Flanagan takes a straightforward approach to the series. “My goal is to make the scariest movie ever made, and I’m trying to make a chilling movie.”
“The Exorcist was one of those movies that was incredibly formative for me,” Flanagan told a packed house with Horowitz. “I saw it too young and it messed me up. They’ve made so many sequels and prequels, but none of them have come close to this. ‘The Exorcist’ is impossible. There’s no point in trying to redo that story or try to do it better than it was before, so you have to do something new that rhymes with it. You have to do something to do it, but it’s not going to replace it.”
Although it’s not a musical, as the panelists joked, Flanagan added a jazz touch. The new Exorcist will be “something completely new.” “It’s not a do-over,” he continued. “It’s not a remake. It’s not an update.”
That said, Flanagan has carefully studied “The Exorcist III” as well as William Friedkin’s cold 1973 classic. “There are some ideas in this that I think are ripe for further consideration. And I love that movie. It has probably the best jump scare in movie history. The hospital hallway scene is… It’s really amazing if you haven’t seen it.”
There’s still time. Flanagan’s script has a Nov. 1 deadline. Eating Halloween candy won’t cure your stomach ache.
