‘The Exorcist’ TV Series: The Power Of Christ Compels A Pilot Order At Fox
This March, we’ll seeThe Omenall grown up withA&E’s new drama seriesDamien. And now another horror classic will be getting the TV series treatment as well. Fox has ordered an adaptation ofWilliam Peter Blatty’s bookThe Exorcistfor a pilot that will hopefully launch a new TV series on the network. The book has already been turned into a feature film that debuted in 1973 and absolutely scared the wits out of audiences, stirring up plenty of controversy, soThe ExorcistTV series will have a lot to live up to.
THRhas the update onThe ExorcistTV series which has actually been in development since 2012. Originally,Martha Marcy May MarlenedirectorSean Durkinwas working on the series, but he’s since fallen away. In 2013, last year’sFantastic Fourreboot writerJeremy Slaterwas hired to scriptthe adaptation, and he’s actually stuck with the project that will be executive produced byJames Robinson, David RobinsonandBarbara Wall.
Before you get bent out of shape about Slater writing the script and throw all hope out the window, it’s important to remember that the original script forFantastic Fourwas not really what we saw in the final big screen version. There was plenty of meddling behind the scenes, and Slater’s script was pretty much ruined in the end. So there’s actually a good chance Slater could make this something worth watching.
However, one thing that may be worth worrying about is that Fox didn’t exactly do a great job with their series adaptation ofMinority Report. It was boring, lifeless and just felt cheap. So hopefully the network doesn’t just phone it in with The Exorcist.
Of course, it’s not as if the legacy ofThe Exorcisthasn’t been tainted already. Yes, the 1973 film directed by William Friedkin is still a classic is is largely considered to be one of the best horror films of all time. Every exorcism movie takes cues from The Exorcist, and that’s why they’ve become cliche. But let’s not forget that the film was followed withExorcist II: The Hereticin 1977,The Exorcist IIIin 1990,Exorcist: The Beginningin 2004 andDominion: A Prequel to the Exorcistin 2005, none of which did much for audiences.
On the novel side of things, Blatty also wrote a sequel calledLegionin 1983. It remains to be seen how The Exorcist would be adapted to fill an entire series, unless there are multiple exorcisms that will be happening, but perhaps that sequel novel could help inform the direction of the series beyond the story we all know from the first film/book.
The ExorcistTV series only has a pilot order for now, so if it doesn’t impress the network executives, we may never get a chance to see it. However, as someone who doesn’t really care forAmerican Horror Story, it would be nice to get some more quality horror programming on television. And if you need a reminder as to how scared people were ofThe Exorcistin 1973,here’s a little reminder.
