Filmstalker: Exorcist the mini-series?

William Peter Blatty has revealed something rather surprising, he's written - note that past tense - a mini-series for the Exorcist and there's more than that, the project has a surprising choice of director.

William Friedkin. Blatty explains what he is thinking about with a mini-series.

It seems that there was one thing he would have liked to have included in the original Exorcist, a sub-plot that was never fully explored. Talking to Cemetery Dance through ShockTillYouDrop he says:

"I would love to have been able to include the subplot involving Karl and his daughter Elvira which I did in my first draft, but that script ran to 172 pages, much, much too long."

However it's not bitter disappointment, far from it, it sounds like he's got a genuine chance to bring the idea to life.

"I might have it my way in the near future, inasmuch as I've written an Exorcist miniseries script that not only faithfully includes all the main elements of the novel, but also some rather spooky new material and scenes, as well as a totally new (and perhaps much more satisfying) ending. I've also updated it. Billy Friedkin has agreed to direct."

What? You are kidding us, seriously? Can a mini-series about The Exorcist really work? Honestly? I need to get my hands on that article, and you can do so from the Cemetery Dance site.

After Battlestar Galactica I think it's fair to say that mini-series were really looking like a strong challenger to cinema, they could deliver just the same but they have a huge amount of time to do what film can't, build characters and relationships giving a story depth and width that a film has to struggle for in its running time.

It's fair to say that's struggling a bit, but shows like The Shield, The Wire, Lost and Heroes are helping to keep that high. I wonder though if that's going to last, but more than that if this idea for an Exorcist mini-series will place it in the running along with titles such as these, or even become a complimentary story to the original Exorcist. Let's face it, the sequels haven't always done that.

So could a mini-series really work? I'm not so sure, especially as it would be concentrating on the one exorcism. I could see it working if we follow the priest through a series of exorcisms but that just isn't going to happen is it?

A mini-series of The Exorcist? Is it going to work even with William Peter Blatty and William Friedkin behind it?

Add a comment

Your Name:

Your Email:

Your URL:

Remember my details?

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

Site Navigation

Promotion

Comments

I don't think it'll work just based on one exorcism. They could flesh out the characters a lot more, but do we really need that?

If they were doing different exorcisms, then maybe it would work.

I just don't see a mini-series in this.

Posted by: Richard Arblaster | November 16, 2009 10:41 AM

It needs to be a different priest and different events from the film doesn't it?

Posted by: Richard Brunton | November 16, 2009 12:28 PM

What will be the point of the overall series though? A different exorcism each week? Just the thought of it makes me yawn.

Posted by: Billy | November 16, 2009 3:05 PM

No, I can't see an exorcism sealed in forty minutes.

What I can see is a series of them linked together for a series, maybe linked to the one demon idea which Exorcist was about - the demon that Father Merrin met when he was a younger priest and then again in the film. It would have a feel of The Mentalist turned Exorcist!

Okay, that last bit was a bit daft, but the story being linked through the series is the key. Perhaps the link is the development of the priest and his story rather than a single demon, or both.

Those ideas would work better than an exorcism per episode.

Posted by: Richard Brunton | November 16, 2009 7:16 PM

I think you've both seriously just embarrassed yourselves. I don't think you fully understand the meaning of MINI series. Do you know that the original IT (based on the Stephen King novel) was a mini-series and not a really, really long movie? That's what Mister Blatty is talking about here. So no, it won't involve many, many exorcisms - it'll be the novel fleshed out and added to. Come on guys, get it together!

Posted by: Sean | June 3, 2010 10:15 AM

Hardly Sean, no embarrasment here at all.

You might have seen, if you've read the whole article, the part in which I say:

"...especially as it would be concentrating on the one exorcism."

I go on to speculate about a series of exorcisms in the article and the comments.

Also a mini-series doesn't necessarily mean one book. Yes both The Stand and It were mini-series, but that's because there was just too much content to do a single film justice.

Looking at The Exorcist the story sees an older Priest do battle with a demon he's met and battled with before in his life, and a mini-series of the story could well build those encounters up to the final battle that we see in the film, it wouldn't just have to be the entire film story retold over six or so episodes.

Posted by: Richard Brunton | June 3, 2010 12:38 PM