It appears to be an excellent day for another exorcism, as a new installment in ‘The Exorcist’ franchise is in the works from Blumhouse and Morgan Creek Productions.
The original ‘Exorcist’ was released in 1973 and starred Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, and Max von Sydow.
The film, based off the original novel and adapted screenplay by author William Peter Blatty, is about a 12-year-old girl who becomes possessed by a demonic presence causing her mother to seek out the help of two priests to save her.
A sequel to this original film, titled ‘Exorcist II: The Heretic,’ was released in 1977 with Linda Blair and Max von Sydow reprising their roles from the previous film.
This film was followed by a third installment, released in 1990, titled ‘Exorcist III: The Beginning.’
It would be some years before two prequel films would be released, with ‘Exorcist: The Beginning’ coming out in 2004 and ‘Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist’ being released the following year.
Horror Fact: The reason behind the release of both films was that Director Paul Schrader was first tasked with creating an Exorcist prequel. After completing the film, Morgan Creek Productions rejected his concept, claiming that it lacked the violence they had been looking for. Morgan Creek decided to hire Director Renny Harlin to re-shoot the entire movie. His film was completed and released as ‘Exorcist: The Beginning’ but, after failing at the box office, Morgan Creek decided to release Schrader’s movie as ‘Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist.’ This move would prove to be a bigger mistake, as Dominion proved to be a bigger box office flop, only bringing in $251 495 on a $30 million budget.
The Exorcist franchise would become dormant until ‘The Exorcist’ TV series was released in 2016. The series would last two seasons and run from 2016-2018 on Fox.
The first season served as a sequel to the original film, ignoring the previous installments. In this season, it’s revealed that the character of Angela Rance (played by Geena Davis) is actually a grown-up Regan MacNeil and that the demon Pazuzu is back, this time to claim her youngest daughter, Casey.
The second season would have nothing to do with the Rance family and instead followed the two priests that saved the Rance family as they encounter another evil force.
Currently, David Gordon Green (Halloween, Halloween Kills) is in talks to direct the next film, which is being referred to as a sequel to the original film.
The plot, casting, and potential release date of the film have not been released at this time. It’s also unclear if this new movie will ignore the previous installments and serve as an original sequel, not unlike Green’s recent Halloween film.
Little is known at this time but, as new information becomes available, Horrorfacts will be sure to report it.
