Good news, Dear Readers!
There is going to be a new installment of The Exorcist,
the 1973 ground-breaking film about demonic possession that changed horror films
forever. It will be coming out in October of 2023, almost thirty years to the
day as the first film. Reportedly, this film will be a direct sequel to the
first installment; though that did not serve Exorcist II: The Heretic
well, this time it will hopefully be different.
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| The Exorcist Extended Director's Cut DVD Cover |
Let’s take a look at the history of the franchise.
Published in 1971, the novel The Exorcist, was
written by the late William Blatty. Almost immediately it became a global
sensation. The novel, which was based on the supposedly true story of a
possessed boy who was exorcised by Jesuit priests, spent fifty-seven weeks on
the New York Times best seller list.
Of course, a movie was going to be made!
The director of The Exorcist, William Friedkin,
kept as close to the original story as possible and was even allowed to use
portions of the priests’ diaries for the script. The film was wildly successful,
with news reports of lines as long as five thousand waiting to get tickets,
which for a horror film in the 1970s was unheard of. This is not to say that
the production was smooth and trouble free. With stories of accidents, fires,
and deaths, rumors began to swirl that the production was cursed. However, the
director later stated, “There were only a couple of strange things out of the
ordinary.” - William Friedkin. (Feinberg, 2021).
With the phenomenal success of the first movie, it was only
natural that a sequel would be made. What followed is a litany of sequels and
prequels almost up to the present day, and even a television series. None of
these, however, hit upon the magic that made the first film so wildly popular. Sadly, the Exorcist II: The Heretic, is even considered one of the worst films ever
made, “It took the greatest film ever made and trashed it in a way that was on
one level farcically stupid and on another level absolutely unforgivable.” (Kermode, 2004). The franchise itself seemed to have been beaten to death, spurred on by
the numerous sequels in the wake of the various possession-inspired films that
cropped up in the early 2000s and 2010s. Many of these were also inspired by
supposedly true events.
Exorcist II: The Heretic (Sequel, 1977)
The Ninth Configuration (Sequel, 1980)
The Exorcist III (Sequel, 1990)
Exorcist: The Beginning (Prequel, 2004)
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (Prequel, 2005)
The new trilogy is returning directly to its roots. Instead
of just another thematic sequel or prequel in the line, the 2023 film is going
to be a direct sequel to the first film. Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions is
one of the producers and has stated, “I love doing these kinds of films because
people are emotional about it. I think it’s a high bar and a challenge to do
the movie. Remember most of the audience coming into this-95% of the audience
who will, if we do our job right, come to see this movie- will not have seen
the first ‘Exorcist’ or even heard of it.” (McKee, 2022).
Sounds like a tall order!
Because of the success of the original, Universal Studios is
spending $400 million US on the worldwide rights to the trilogy. The movies
will be available in theaters and on Universal’s streaming service, Peacock. (Maddox,2021).
The new film is the first in a new trilogy, with all three
being helmed by David Gordon Green, who is also a co-writer on the project.
Green, who was responsible for Halloween Kills, from the equally
loved Halloween franchise, said this about the differences in writing
projects: “To me it’s as different as making Stronger and Pineapple
Express. They’re just so unbelievably different. One is very primal and
the other is academic. So, it’s just trying to switch gears there. I’m sure
I’ll know more a year from now when I’ve gotten a handle on what Exorcist is.
The script’s written. And it was a very entirely different writing process.”
(Lawrence, 2021).
So far, we know that the film stars Leslie Odom Jr. as the
father of a possessed child who reaches out to Chris MacNeil for help, played
by Ellen Burstyn, who is reprising her role from the original film. Fans have
questioned whether Linda Blair would be open to reprising her role as Regan
MacNeil. The actress has not stated that she will appear in the film saying, “I
wish all those involved the best and I appreciate the loyalty and passion that
fans have for my character.” (Maddox, 2021)
Sadly, both Jason Miller and Max von Sydow have passed on in
the intervening years, von Sydow in 2020 and Miller in 2001. There have been no
others announced in any other capacity for acting or additional production
roles. (Maddox, 2021).
Watch this blog for more news to follow as more information
on The Exorcist trilogy develops.
Dear Readers, this time around, other than modern effects
and tight script work, what do you hope to see from this new trilogy of
Exorcist films? I’d love to hear what you think!
Smiles in the Dark,
Jodi
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