‘The Exorcist’ Remake Updates: Director William Friedkin slams the idea of a reboot; Morgan Creek Productions clarifies plans were for sequels

By Staff Writer

Sep 30, 2015 10:16 AM EDT

'The Exorcist' director William Friedkin slammed the idea of a proposed remake of his classic 1970's horror film and took to social media to express his disapproval. Morgan Creek Productions, the company that planned to do the revival, clarified that the plans were for future sequels and not an actual reboot.

According to The Telegraph, film studio Morgan Creek Productions has put several film rights up for sale but retains the remake rights to 'The Exorcist'. It was reported that the company's CEO Jim Robinson said that they were still eager to do some work on the series. He said, "ideas are being tossed right now". Perhaps his words were taken out of context but the news was stirring enough to have original director William Friedkin expressing his censure on Twitter.

Friedkin was the filmmaker behind the original supernatural horror film released in December of 1973. It was based on the novel by William Peter Blatty, which was inspired by the real-life exorcism of Roland Doe that dealt with the demonic possession of one 12-year old girl. According to GeekTyrant, Friedkin tweeted out things like "Dear HitFix...correction: I COMPLETELY denounce a remake of The Exorcist by Morgan Creek." and "I mention it only in passing, but I don't believe Morgan Creek has rights to THE ORIGINAL, only the so-called sequels."

It was reported that although Morgan Creek Productions would be selling off its library of films, it may do remakes of Friedkin's work as well as other cult favorites such as 'Ace Ventura' and 'Major League'. It was only recently that the film studio spoke out to clarify the alleged miscommunication and announced that they would not touch the original 'The Exorcist' film. The plans were for proposed sequels.

An article by Cinema Blend posted Morgan Creek's tweet that said, "For the record, we will never attempt to remake THE EXORCIST". The company even singled out Friedkin in another post that reiterated their intentions. The 80-year old Academy Award-winning filmmaker then replied his thanks for the public clarification and even expressed his apologies for the confusion.

'The Exorcist' is a supernatural horror film that was theatrically released in the United States in December 26, 1973. It quickly became influential in popular culture and was regarded as one of the scariest films in the industry. It earned $402 million against a $12 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo.

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