After an intense bidding war, Lee Daniels sold his exorcism film to Netflix for $65 million.
According to Deadline, the film will be produced by the Oscar-nominated director and star Octavia Spencer, Caleb McLaughlin, and Andra Day.
The actress will portray the mother of a family from Indiana whose kids were possessed by evil spirits. McLaughlin will depict Day’s character’s son, and Spencer will depict a church member who tries to give Day’s character assistance with the paranormal situation.
The $65 million will reportedly cover the film’s budget, and production will begin in the middle of this year.
Based on a true story, Daniels’ exorcism movie will be based on the tale of a Gary, Indiana woman named Latoya Ammons, whose children claimed demons possessed them. Initially, authorities believed Ammons and her family created an elaborate story. However, the Gary Police Department and Department of Child Services partook in an investigation of the claims and said they witnessed Ammons’ children’s supernatural experiences. The family’s case manager and a hospital nurse reportedly saw her 9-year-old son walk backward up a wall.
Ammons optioned the rights to her story to American media company Relativity in 2014 when it became public. However, the film was never created because Relativity went bankrupt in 2015. A former executive from Relativity named Tucker Tooley bought Ammons’ rights, and then writers and producers Elijah Bynum and Dave Coggeshall wrote drafts. Eventually, Daniels rewrote the script, and buyers read it.
MGM and Miramax were among the entertainment companies who battled it out for rights to Daniels’ project.
The exorcism movie will be the 62-year-old director’s fourth one with Tooley. Tooley produced the Daniels’-directed films The United States vs. Billie Holiday and Shadowboxer.
The United States vs. Billie Holiday, which debuted in 2021, was supposed to be released via Paramount Pictures, but it was sold to Hulu, which was released digitally instead.
