In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn has finally broken her silence regarding her unexpected franchise return in Universal Pictures and Blumhouse’s upcoming The Exorcist sequel. The veteran actress was asked why out of all the other Exorcist films in the franchise, she decided to join director David Gordon Green’s newest version of the horror sequel.
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Burstyn confirmed that she initially turned down Universal Pictures and Blumhouse’s offer despite the “whole bunch of money” that came with the deal. However, due to their determination to get Burstyn’s most coveted “yes,” the studios surprised the Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore actress when they doubled their offer.
“You know, what happened was I’ve turned down many versions of The Exorcist 2,” Burstyn shared. “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.'”
Despite being taken aback by their second offer, this definitely helped Burstyn with her final decision. After realizing that the money would hugely benefit her scholarship program for young actors, she ultimately signed on to the project.
She continued, “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.”
The Exorcist trilogy is not being developed as a remake. Rather, it serves as a direct sequel to the original horror feature, which was adapted from William Peter Blatty’s novel, with Halloween’s David Gordon Green directing from a screenplay he is co-writing with Scott Teems, Danny McBride, and Peter Sattler.
Oscar-winner Ellen Burstyn is returning to the franchise for the upcoming films, reprising her iconic role as Chris MacNeil over 40 years since the original film debuted in 1973 for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Joining Burstyn is Oscar nominee Leslie Odom, Jr. (Hamilton, One Night in Miami) and Emmy winner Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale).
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The sequel will be produced by Jason Blum, David Robinson, and James Robinson, with Green, McBride, and Couper Samuelson set to executive produce. It will be a co-production between Blumhouse and Morgan Creek Production, with Ryan Turek to oversee the project on behalf of Blumhouse.
The original The Exorcist centered around the sudden demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl named Regan (Linda Blair) after encountering an old Ouija board. In a last attempt to save Regan, two Roman Catholic priests (Max von Sydow, Jason Miller) are enlisted to conduct an exorcism on her.
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