As we’re entering the month of October, that means we have a lot of upcoming movies to get chills from. One soon-to-be-released horror film that’s showing a lot of promise is Blumhouse Production’s The Exorcist: Believer which includes one original star, Ellen Burstyn, returning as Chris MacNeil to save two girls who suffered the same fate as her daughter. The film’s co-producer Jason Blum talks about The Exorcist actress returning for the new trilogy and his embarrassing antic when they first met.
The Exorcist is known as one of the best horror movies and offered disturbing moments at every turn that kept you up at night. The Exorcist: Believer was inspired by David Gordon Green’s Halloween Trilogy seeing fans loving the return of Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis. Green decided to repeat the re-emergence of a horror icon by having Ellen Burstyn come back as Chris MacNeil. Co-producer Jason Blum talked all about that experience with EW and what Burstyn did differently than Curtis.
I really give David Gordon Green credit for that. He was able to get Jamie Lee Curtis comfortable [on 2018’s Halloween] and David got Ellen to feel comfortable to join us in this iteration of her iconic movie. Where Jamie Lee Curtis will come in, kicking the door down and getting to know everybody, Ellen kind of floated in.
Ellen Burstyn clearly has that natural presence on a film set. It makes sense since the veteran actress has graced herself on film sets ever since her film debut in 1971’s The Last Picture Show. So the question would have been if she was willing to revisit one of her most iconic movies after her history of turning down Exorcist sequel offers. The surprising and awesome reason she said yes to the upcoming Exorcist trilogy was for the promise of a scholarship program to be brought in for Masters students at Pace University, whom she collaborates with as co-president of the Actors Studio. The deal ended up working really well for the Oscar winner and Blumhouse Productions. She got her scholarship program and Blumhouse got the “Triple Crown of Acting” performer to wow us once again for their new trilogy series.
It can be incredibly intimidating knowing you’re about to meet the woman who first brought Chris MacNeil to life only to see her revive that character before your eyes. Jason Blum continued to talk about a hilarious way he was trying to impress the award-winning actress.
I show up with my Exorcist Vans, because they had just released a pair of sneakers with The Exorcist emblazoned all over them. I introduced myself and she looked at my sneakers and she was like, ‘So, you’re a horror fan?’ I was like, oh my God, I wore the band’s shirt to a rock concert!
Well, that’s one way to show you’re a fan. Now, I’m curious what those Exorcist-themed Vans shoes look like. Ellen Burstyn seems to feel her return to the horror franchise was the right call for her as she said in a behind-the-scenes sneak peek with EW that she believes audiences “will get their money’s worth with this one.” Based on the film’s terrorizing trailer, it appears to be a nod to the original, where the upcoming horror film doesn’t hold back on the unsettling and downright creepy exorcism scenes.
But, there are some key differences in The Exorcist: Believer with the stakes being higher in two girls being possessed and a new demon being introduced called Lamashtu. This makes me wonder if this new demon will be the same or grimier than The Exorcist’s Pazuzu. Deadline predicts Believer will open at $30 million with the same opening as 2022’s Scream. We shall see this weekend if Burstyn’s instincts prove to be correct.
If Jamie Lee Curtis’ return worked out well for the Halloween trilogy, I have no doubts that Ellen Burstyn’s comeback as Chris MacNeil will bring in the same results. If you can find them as Jason Blum did, wear your Exorcist Van sneakers and see The Exorcist: Believer in theaters this Friday. You can also find this horror flick on your Peacock subscription once the theatrical window closes.