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Fans of The Exorcist might be aware of a teleplay adaptation written by author William Peter Blatty he has been boasting about in recent years. Blatty has been very open about his excitement for a mini series of his beloved tale of demonic possession as it would give him the chance to truly port the entire novel to screen (the film, while a classic, culled some arcs for the sake of cinema). He even admitted in 2010 that director of the 1973 film, William Friedkin, had agreed he would direct if it was ever backed by a studio or network.
Today we’ve learned, via an exclusive from Vulture, that a Morgan Creek-backed TV series adaptation of The Exorcist is currently being prepared. Neither Blatty nor Friedkin are involved in any way. When it comes to The Exorcist, studio Morgan Creek hold the production rights (we can thank them for Legion and the prequels Dominion and Exorcist: The Beginning) and they are free to proceed however they wish.
Writer-director Sean Durkin is behind the new TV adaptation, with Executive Producer Roy Lee (The Departed, The Ring) overseeing the project which appears reasonably deep in development– the Vulture article reveals it is expected to be formally shopped to networks two weeks from now.
The 10-episode series will go beyond the source material and not completely rely on Blatty’s novel nor the 1973 film. “Durkin’s Exorcist” will detail the events leading up to the demonic possession and how the family deals with such an event, before finally having to call on the services of Father Karras to perform an exorcism. There has been no mention of Father Merrin at this point, or any of the other characters for that matter.
Friedkin has already commented on the news via Twitter, simply tweeting:
There is no way I would even watch it.
There is no word from Blatty at the time of publishing this.
Thanks to Justin for the heads-up on this breaking news and for tweeting William Friedkin for his thoughts on the show.
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