During a recent interview withEntertainment Weekly, directorDavid Gordon Greenbroke down the trailer for his upcoming film,The Exorcist: Believerand discussed Ellen Burstyn’s return to the franchise.
According to Green, the director was about 14 years old when he first watched William Friedkin’s 1974 horror classicThe Exorcist. He noted:
“The first time I watched it was in a library with headphones on. I would watch it 10 minutes at a time. It was about all I could take. It felt like a realistic journey. It wasn’t like aNightmare on Elm Streetmovie where you could surrender to the fantasy. It was something that felt a little deeper, a little bit more internal, and so that’s what has always stuck with me about it.”
The upcoming horror sequel debuted it first trailer today, July 25th after initially being shown beforeOppenheimerin theaters this past weekend.The Exorcist: Believerwas written by Green and Peter Sattler and follows friends Angela (played by Lidya Jewett) and Katherine (played by Olivia Marcum). The new film marks the first supernatural movie in a planned trilogy.
Green said, “The concept of this movie is two young girls disappear after school one day. When they return, they are in a different mental state and exhibiting some peculiar attributes. We come to learn that they are in a synchronized possession.”
In addition to Jewett and Marcum, the film also stars Jennifer Nettles and Norbert Leo Butz as Katherine’s parents and Leslie Odom Jr. as Angela’s widower father. The director described Odom’s character as a person who “puts all of his energy and love into his daughter. Then [he is] faced as a single father with this issue and [does] not have a strong spiritual community or connection to his physical community.”
Exorcist: Believeralso marks Ellen Burstyn’s return to the franchise following her character Chris MacNeil’s appearance in the original film as the mother of Linda Blair’s Regan. Burstyn did not appear in the 1977 sequelExorcist: II The Hereticor any of the later movies until now.
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David Gordon Green Says Ellen Burstyn’s Character Has “Become Fascinated by Exorcism”
While discussing Chris MacNeil’s life following her daughter’s possession, theHalloween Killsdirector stated, “Her character ended up becoming fascinated by exorcism and studying the rites and rituals of possession throughout culture. [She] became a bit of an expert. Not an exorcist herself, but renowned for the books that she’s written.”
When asked ifBlair will also be making an appearance in the upcoming horror film, Green avoided giving a direct response but noted that the movie “alludes to her character in a number of ways.”
TheHalloween Endsdirector also confirmed that Blair did visit the set during filming. He stated, “We were lucky and had Linda as a technical advisor. She helped us bring excellent performances out of young actresses. It was really valuable having a relationship with her and being able to get her as a part of this conversation.”
When asked if Green’s previous horror trilogy setHalloween(which began in 2018 and ignored everything that happened after John Carpenter’s original 1978 movie) is an example of what fans should expect with the new film regarding theExorcistfranchise’s many sequels, Green said:
“To be honest, I’m not avoiding any of them, but I don’t know them very well. I’ve seen all of them. I’ve seenExorcist IIImore than any of them. I know that one very well. Say what you will aboutExorcist II, but it ain’t shy. It is a fearless epic of ideas, but [we’re] not necessarily following a character fromExorcist: The Beginning. We’re not looking into that. It’s not that type of a franchise that needs to check boxes, but I’ve got two more movies, so maybe I’ll find some threads to unravel from one of those.”
The Exorcist: Believerhits theaters this October 13th and Universal has already announced that it’s follow-up,The Exorcist: Deceiver, will release on April 18th 2025.
