Mike Flanagan fought 'aggressively' to reboot The Exorcist

Mike Flanagan is convinced he can "add" something new to 'The Exorcist'.

The 46-year-old filmmaker is overseeing a reboot of the iconic 1973 horror movie and fought "very aggressively" to acquire the rights to the project as he wanted to radically reimagine the flick.

Mike told The Hollywood Reporter: "We aren't making this easy on ourselves. But 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.

"I chased 'The Exorcist' very aggressively because I was convinced I had something I could add. This is an opportunity to do something that I believe has never been done within the franchise – something that honours what came before it but isn't built on nostalgia.

"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."

Flanagan has plenty of experience in the horror genre and reflected on the daunting experience of sitting beside celebrated author Stephen King for a screening of his film 'Doctor Sleep', which served as a sequel to 'The Shining'.

He recalled: "We brought 'Doctor Sleep' to screen in Maine, and I sat next to him in his hometown theatre in Bangor.

"I didn't look at the screen at all. I just kept trying to subtly gauge any reaction. If he nodded, I thought, 'Great, it's working!' If he sighed or shifted, it was like, 'Oh, he hates it!' And that was a long movie.

"Two and a half hours later, he leaned over and said, 'You did a great job.' I just about died. Then he drove me to his house. We ate pizza and chatted in his library. He's the nicest."