While “Doctor Sleep” writer/director Mike Flanagan may be taking a break from horror with his latest outing, an adaptation of Stephen King’s novella “The Life of Chuck,” which premieres at TIFF this weekend, let it by no means imply that the filmmaker and limited series creator is done with crafting frights. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter for a recent interview, Flanagan discussed a few of his highly anticipated projects, including a “radical new take” on “The Exorcist.”
“I’ve always felt that there’s no point in going into a franchise or into a property that monolithic unless there’s something new you can bring,” he said. “I chased ‘The Exorcist’ very aggressively because I was convinced I had something that I could add.”
Initially, David Gordon Green was set to craft three new “Exorcist” films that expanded on the original’s storyline, but after his first entry, “The Exorcist: Believer,” proved a critical and financial dud, grossing only $137 million when Blumhouse spent a reported $400 million acquiring the franchise’s IP right, he promptly exited from his commitment. Unlike with most legacy sequels, Flanagan has no intention of catering exclusively to fans, but rather, plans to craft something for them and for newcomers.
“This is an opportunity to do something that I believe has never been done within the franchise — something that honors what came before it but isn’t built on nostalgia,” said Flanagan.
Moreover, he’s just really interested in freaking you the f**k out. Describing his ambition with the film to THR, Flanagan said, “I really just saw an opportunity to make the scariest movie I’ve ever made. I know expectations are high. No one’s more intimidated than I am.”
One project Flanagan isn’t able to sink his teeth into anymore, but was looking forward to bringing to life, was Stephen King’s “Revival,” a cosmic horror novel that deals in themes of addiction, fanaticism, and the after-life.
“I wrote a script for Stephen King’s ‘Revival,’ one of my favorite things I’ve ever written, but it fell apart,” Flanagan said. “That’s gone now because I have ‘The Dark Tower.’ Stephen doesn’t like to have you sitting on more than one thing at a time. It means something’s not getting made.”
In discussing the process of adapting “The Dark Tower,” which consists of eight novels, one novella, and a children’s book, Flanagan said, “That thing’s launching an oil tanker. But we’re working on it. It was stalled first by me moving from Netflix to Amazon and stalled again by the strikes. It’s progressing, and we’re further along than we’ve ever been on it. I do see feature components to some of the other stories, but the main storyline is ongoing series.”
