That Other Cursed Movie: The Exorcist Prequel

LA Weekly has a rather interesting article on the lengthy, hellish production of Exorcist: The Beginning. It is a classic case of a director with a vision different than the one a studio wanted, but luckily that director's version might still get a chance at a DVD release and cable airing. While nothing is official, William Peter Blattly is mentioned at the end as having seen Paul Schrader's version of the film and says it is quite good. No advance reviews have popped up yet for the Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea) version hitting theatres Aug. 20. Only 2 minutes of Schrader's film will make it into Harlin's. Schrader's version took about 4 months to film on a budget of $35 million. Harlin shot 11 weeks worth on an $8 million budget. Even with only $43 million total production budget, that seems rather difficult for the film to reach in its domestic run. Both versions on DVD will add a great deal of help, but it all may be a lost cause. However, snaps to the studio for at least giving us an R-rated film, as opposed to every other studio that seems to be copping out to reach those always-spending 13 year old boys.

Check out the article here.