There have been many opportunities for Ellen Burstyn to revisit the Exorcist franchise in years past, but it wasn't until she heard about what director David Gordon Green had in store for the next movie that she finally got back on board. Back in 1973, Burstyn appeared in a leading role as Chris MacNeil in the widely-celebrated horror film The Exorcist. The hit film spawned several sequels and a TV series adaptation, but Burstyn had never revisited the franchise, not even for a special cameo appearance.
It has since been reported that a new legacy sequel to The Exorcist is in development at Blumhouse and that In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Burstyn opens up on her surprise return to the series after five decades. The legendary actress admits that she initially turned down the new film until another offer came in that was much harder to refuse. Even so, it wasn't so much the money as it was the opportunity to help out rising actors that had gotten her interest, and once that was worked out, Burstyn was happy to sign on.
"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."
Ellen Burstyn Has Reshoots for The Exorcist in November
Ellen Burstyn also praised the film's director and mentioned how she has more shooting to do in November. It will still be a bit of a wait for fans to see the movie, however, as Burstyn also notes how the new Exorcist sequel will be coming out in 2024; it had previously been reported that the movie would be out in 2023.
"I’ve shot most of the picture. The writer-director, David Gordon Green, I like very much. I met with him and we talked about the script and so forth, and I promised him four more days if he needed them. And he’s edited the film and he wants the four days, so I’m going back in November to shoot four more days. And it’ll come out in 2024, on the 50th anniversary of The Exorcist, the original."
Gordon directs the film using a screenplay co-written with Peter Sattler with a story by Green, Sattler, Danny McBride, and Scott Teems. The film is based on the original novel by William Peter Blatty and the first feature film adaptation from director William Friedkin. along with Burstyn, the new film also stars Leslie Odom Jr. and Ann Dowd.