The Exorcist, one of the most head-turning horror films of all time, is officially getting a sequel – and Okwui Okpokwasili is getting in on the action. Okpokwasili, who recently signed onto a Marvel spinoff of WandaVision, will be joining the new film, which is being produced by Blumhouse, Morgan Creek, Universal, and Peacock as a sequel to the original 1973 film.
Written and directed by William Friedkin, the original Exorcist follows actress Chris MacNeil – played by Ellen Burstyn – as she struggles to save her 12-year-old daughter Regan (Linda Blair) as she gets possessed by a violent demon who exhibits disturbing supernatural behavior and begins to violently murder the people around her, forcing Chris to seek the help of Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) before her daughter is lost altogether.
Everything We Know About ‘The Exorcist’s (New) Sequel
According to Collider, the upcoming Exorcist sequel will star Ellen Burstyn reprising her role as an older Chris MacNeil who is enlisted by a father (Leslie Odom Jr.) desperate to save his own daughter from a haunting that’s eerily similar to Regan’s. Morgan Creek first announced the project in 2020, according to Movieweb; originally, the new Exorcist was meant to be a reboot of the 1973 Exorcist, but it was changed to a sequel in the face of backlash from fans of the original film. Universal, Peacock, and Blumhouse snagged the rights to the new film in 2021, with Jason Blum joining the project as a producer alongside David Robinson and James Robinson on behalf of Morgan Creek. David Gordon Green is at the helm of the new Exorcist, serving as an executive producer with writer/producer Danny McBride and Couper Samuelson.
Okwui Okpokwasili is set to join The Exorcist in a currently unnamed role, joining Olivia Marcum, Ann Dowd, Lidya Jewett, and Raphael Sbarge, along with Odom and Burstyn. Okpokwasili is an actor, writer, and producer whose recent roles include Gordon Kemp (Jim True-Frost)’s lawyer on NBC’s The Blacklist (2020) and Unoaku in Remote (2022). Deadline reports that Okwui Okpokwasili has also signed on to join Kathryn Hahn and Aubery Plaza in Marvel’s Agatha: Coven of Chaos, a spinoff of the popular WandaVision series.
The Exorcist, starring Okwui Okpokwasili, is currently slated for release on October 13th, 2023. More information on the film will likely become available as it continues production.