When it comes to the all time great horror films, 1973’s The Exorcist will forever be somewhere at the top.
I mean, seriously… it’s about demon possessions that many to this day believe are a very real thing, and on top of that, the movie is just incredibly messed up in general, even for today’s standards…
Just imagine how messed up it was in 1973 when movies were WAY more mild than they are now.
With that being said, it appears The Exorcist saga ain’t over yet, as we have a sequel to the original movie in the works as we speak.
Universal Studios will be releasing The Exorcist: Believer on October 13th. The new sequel will feature original stars Ellen Burstyn as MacNeil, the actress whose daughter Regan (Linda Blair) was possessed by the demon in the original movie.
This is Burstyn’s first return to The Exorcist universe, despite there being a number of different sequels and a number of different offers in the past 50 years. She tells The Hollywood Reporter why she finally decided to come back:
“You know, what happened was I’ve turned down many versions of The ‘Exorcist 2.’ I’ve said no every time. This time they offered me a whole bunch of money and I still said no.
And then they surprised me and they came back and said, ‘We doubled the offer.’ I said, ‘OK, let me think about this.’ I thought, ‘That’s a lot of money. Let me think about it.’
The next thought that came to mind was: ‘I feel like the devil is asking my price.’ And the next thought that came to mind was, ‘My price is a scholarship program for talented students at our master’s degree program at Pace University. That’s my price.’
So I then went back and upped their up and ended up getting what I want. And I’ve got a scholarship program for young actors.”
Respect.
The new movie is about the families of two young girls who are reportedly possessed after going missing for three days. In the teaser, you can see them speaking in tongues and covered in blood from head to toe. The girls’ parents then decide to reach out to MacNeil for help.
Judging by the fact MacNeil tells the demon “We’ve met before,” I believe the demon possessing the two girls is the same one that possessed her daughter in the original film.
You can check out the official synopsis here:
“Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding (Tony winner and Oscar nominee Leslie Odom, Jr.) has raised their daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett) on his own.
But when Angela and her friend Katherine (Olivia Marcum), disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil.
For the first time since the 1973 film, Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn reprises her iconic role as Chris MacNeil, an actress who has been forever altered by what happened to her daughter Regan five decades before.”
The movie will also star former country star and The Righteous Gemstones actress Jennifer Nettles.
The movie creator is David Gordon Green, who was known for reviving the original Halloween series by bringing back Jamie Lee Curtis for three movies between 2018 to 2022. Believer will also kick off a new trilogy of The Exorcist as well so expected two more coming close behind.
After watching the trailer, all I can say is one big… hell no.
