On its release in 1973, director William Friedkin's The Exorcist was a sensation. With its terrifying depiction of a young girl possessed by the devil, the movie notoriously caused cinemagoers to faint, vomit and flee the cinema.
Would an Exorcist movie have the same reaction today?
Universal are certainly hoping so, as they've just pumped a whopping $400 million into funding a trilogy of sequels to the 1973 blockbuster.
The movies are set to be directed by David Gordon Green, who successfully revived the Halloween franchise with his 2018 sequel to the 1978 slasher movie. The second movie in Green's Halloween trilogy hits cinemas this October.
With his take on Halloween, Green made the decision to ignore the events and various timelines of the many sequels that had come before, making his film a direct sequel to the original movie. It seems Green has the same thing in mind with The Exorcist, as Ellen Burstyn is set to reprise her role as Chris MacNeil, the mother of the possessed girl played by Linda Blair.
Asked by Total Film if his Exorcist would be a sequel to Friedkin's original, Green replied that such a suggestion was "not inaccurate."
"I like all the Exorcist movies," Green said. "And not only do I like them, I think they can all fall into the acceptable mythology for what I’m doing. It’s not like I’m saying, ‘Pretend that The Exorcist 2 never happened.’ That’s fine to exist. They’re all fine to exist, and I enjoy all of them."
Green discussed the amount of work involved in coming up with a sequel.
"That one is a lot of research, rather than just impulsive screenwriting," he said. "That’s one that you talk to a lot of people. You read a lot of books, and do a shit-load of interviews. There was such a dramatic authenticity to what that original film is. It’s a lot more than I anticipated getting into it. And I guess I was naïve to think that. But it was very exhilarating to be involved in a lot of those conversations that you find yourself in."
While details of the new trilogy are being kept largely under wraps, it has been revealed that the first of the three movies will star Hamilton's Leslie Odom Jr. He's set to play a father whose daughter becomes the latest victim of a possession. Desperate for help, he contacts Burstyn's Chris MacNeil, knowing she went through the same thing all those years ago.
"David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, Scott Teems, and Peter Sattler have put together a compelling continuation of this iconic tale and I can't wait to bring this to fans around the world," said David Robinson, head of production company Morgan Creek.
The trilogy is set to be produced by Blumhouse, the outfit that has seen success with horror hits like The Purge, Happy Death Day and the recent Halloween revival.
The Exorcist made history by becoming the first horror movie ever nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, where Burstyn was also nominated for Best Actress. Its many sequels haven't fared nearly so well however.
Despite boasting John Boorman as director, 1977's Exorcist II: The Heretic was a critical and commercial flop, often cited as one of the worst movies ever made.
In 1990 the author of the original novel, William Peter Blatty turned director for Exorcist III, adapted from his own 1983 sequel novel Legion. Box office returns were modest and reviews were mixed, but the movie has been reappraised by horror fans in the decades since.
In 2004, not one but two prequels were released. Director Paul Schrader's Dominion was initially shelved, with director Renny Harlin brought in to rejig the movie. Ultimately, both Schrader and Harlin's films were released, but both flopped.
More recently in 2016 The Exorcist was revived as a TV series. Despite positive reviews, the series failed to find an audience and was cancelled after just two seasons. That makes the decision to throw $400 million at a new trilogy all the more baffling.
The first movie of the new trilogy I scheduled for an October 2023 release.
