Old interview with William Peter Blatty is a brilliant read

I’ve always enjoyed the way William Peter Blatty speaks. His voice is engaging no matter the topic; but when the topic is his great triumph The Exorcist, the combination is bliss.

So, it was with glee that I recently re-read an interview with Blatty which was originally conducted by Steve Head (IGN Film Force) back in 2000 when The Exorcist was hitting cinemas again thanks to The Version You’ve Never Seen (which we all have by now…).

The answers Blatty gave are elaborate and interesting– one of those must-read interviews for Exorcist fans if you haven’t already. He talks about everything from the original case in-which the book is based, getting the book optioned by Warner Brothers and being involved in the (at the time) new cut of The Exorcist.

Here’s a taste:

When The Exorcist became a best seller, is that when Hollywood changed it’s mind and everybody wanted to do the movie after they all rejected it?

No. No. It happened because of the Warner Brothers executive’s dog. Warner Brothers, along with everyone else had turned it down. The story department had read it and… (he motions as if tossing the script aside.) Then a producer got interested in it, and he gave it to John Calley, who was in charge of creative affairs at Warner Brothers.

John Calley. He’s now running Columbia Pictures.

Yes. That’s right. And John read it at his home at night. He was in bed. John told me he got spooked. He was alone in the house, and it was creepy. So he said… (patting the table) whatever the dog’s name was… “Come on up on the bed here.” The dog had up until then been forbidden EVER to get on the bed. He got whipped if he got on the bed. “No, no… come on, come on.” (patting the table again). The dog wouldn’t come up. It ended up in a titanic struggle between Calley and the dog. Calley was dragging the dog up, the dog is pining and digging his claws into the wooden floor. He finally got him up on the bed. He realized at that moment, I think, that the book was hot. He was terrified.

Read the entire interview at IGN Film Force’s archived page.

This link has been added to captainhowdy.com’s central page for The Exorcist

Thanks to Mike for scoop that the interview still existed online. (I have made a text copy to post here in case it ever disappears!)