Lee Daniels Sells Exorcism Film to Netflix for $65 Million

If you love The Conjuring, but always wanted to see how the story would play out with a Black family, then we’ve got some good news.

Deadline reports, after a fierce bidding war, Lee Daniels has sold his star-studded exorcism movie to Netflix. The deal is said to be in the $65 million range, covering the budget, and production set to begin later this year.

Daniels will direct a stacked cast that includes Andra Day, Octavia Spencer, Glenn Close, Rob Morgan, Caleb McLaughlin and Aunjanue Ellis.

Based on real events, “Day will play the mother of an Indiana family whose children purportedly became demonically possessed.”

Covered by The Indianapolis Star at the time, “Latoya Ammons and her three children experienced strange incidents in their Gary, IN, home that grew progressively worse, with the children levitating, becoming violent with one another and speaking in growls and deep voices with no recollection afterward. Skeptics abounded, but the Gary Police Department, Department of Child Services and the local church and hospital all became involved, filing reports that took the supernatural occurrences seriously. Officers, doctors and social workers said they witnessed many of the incidents, including one in which her 9-year-old son walked backward up a wall.”

McLaughlin plays Day’s character’s son at an older age, Close is Day’s character’s mother, Morgan is Day’s character’s boyfriend and Spencer plays a clergy member trying to help Day’s character through the supernatural ordeal.

Look, $65 million may seem high, but it’s actually not when you consider that Universal and Blumhouse just paid $400 million for the rights to a new The Exorcist trilogy starring Leslie Odom Jr.

Also, take into account that according to Box Office Mojo, The Conjuring Universe has made $738 million in the US and Canada, and $2 billion worldwide, per Deadline.

If you’ve ever wondered why there’s an endless stream of weird horror movies always coming out, it’s because the genre is low risk, high reward. Studios can invest $5-20 million and get back $70-100 million if a movie catches fire with audiences.

We guarantee producers didn’t think they had a $2 billion franchise when the first The Conjuring was released.

Clearly Netflix is hoping they have something similar with this new project.

And let’s not breeze past a Black-led horror film, because we don’t get those. Ever.

We’re fascinated to see how this all works out.