The legendary horror movie about a teenage girl possessed by the devil is to appear on screens. Universal Pictures and Peacock, a new streaming service, decided to purchase the worldwide rights for the new Exorcist trilogy for $400 million. It will be fun - Ellen Burstyn, the Oscar-winning actress, will reprise the role as Chris MacNeil, the possessed and tortured girl's mother in the 1973 movie. Yet, new actors will be starring, like Leslie Odom Jr., who played in Hamilton, Knives Out 2. He will play a father of a possessed child who seeks help from Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn). Apart from that, it's known who'll direct the first film - David Gordon Green (Halloween). Danny McBride (Alien: Covenant) and Couper Samuelson (The Invisible Man) will work on the other parts. The whole trilogy will be produced by Jason Blum, Blumhouse founder and CEO.
It's not going to be a remake but a continuation of the story directed by William Friedkin. The classical movie is based on Peter Blatty's novel The Exorcist (1971).
The last time the Exorcist franchise was on the big screen was in the 2005 release of Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist. Obviously, there were more sequels and prequels: Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Exorcist III (1990), and Exorcist: The Beginning (2004). Later on, one could see short-life TV series at Fox, which were pretty successful due to the vibe from the 1973 movie. Well, the Exorcist fans need to wait a bit more - the first theatrical release of the upcoming trilogy is planned for October 13, 2023.
The classical Exorcist (1973) was directed by William Friedkin, and it earned $441 million at the global box office. Additionally, it got 10 Oscar nominations and became the first recognized horror movie in the best picture category. Even today, the film got high reviews - 83% in RottenTomatoes and 8 out of 10 on IMDB.
Here's where the idea to work on the movie comes from. Streaming services aim to collaborate with media conglomerates more and more lately. For example, Netflix paid $450 million for two Knives Out sequels, or Amazon paid $125 million for Coming 2 America. So as subscription services become more and more popular, the market is highly competitive. That's how Peacock decided to choose The Exorcist to work on; it'll definitely attract many people.
Sources: Variety.com, Deadline. com