Inside ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ And How Director David Gordon Green Raised Hell

Forbes Business Hollywood & Entertainment Inside ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ And How Director David Gordon Green Raised Hell Simon Thompson Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Simon is a producer (TV & Digital) and film & entertainment journalist Following Oct 3, 2023, 05:30pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin (Left to right) Olivia O’Neill and director David Gordon Green on the set of ‘The Exorcist: . .

. [+] Believer. ‘ Universal Studios The Exorcist: Believer ‘s director and co-writer David Gordon Green remembers exactly where he was when he saw The Exorcist for the first time.

“I was 14 or 15 years old, and I watched it in a public library in a cubicle with headphones on 15 or 20 minutes at a time,” he recalled. “My parents were very strict, and The Exorcist was not going to be screened at my house. I was raised going to a Presbyterian church on Sunday, but I had just started a year at a Jesuit Catholic prep school, so there was a lot of curiosity and some spiritual conversations happening in my world.

” “When I saw that movie, it gave me a perspective of possession I’d never fathomed. Strangely, the scenes that stick out to me most are the medical scenes, things like the examinations and the spinal tap. The clinical reality of that exploration is what inspired me to continue the documentary-like approach in the casting and process with our film.

” As the Oscar-winning original film, widely considered the scariest horror film of all time, celebrates its 50th anniversary, his new beginning for the franchise lands in theaters. The Exorcist: Believer ignores the previous sequels, treating only director William Friedkin’s classic as canon. MORE FOR YOU Grimes Reportedly Files In Cour Elon Musk Over Parental Rights To Child The 2023 Forbes 400 List Of Richest Americans Facts And Figures Powerball Jackpot Surges To 1 2 Billion Here s What The Winner Will Take Home After Taxes It’s also notable for the return of legendary actress Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil, the mother of the original’s possession victim, Regan.

In The Exorcist: Believer , she is called on to help the families of two girls who vanish for days, but when they turn up, there is something dark and demonic inside. A war between the holy and the unholy rages as they and others fight for the youngster’s souls. Green, his cast, and crew felt the intensity of the narrative manifest on set.

“As you can probably imagine, the variety of religious viewpoints that we are utilizing in our film’s narrative, on top of the variety of spiritual viewpoints that the actors have in their real world, are significant,” the filmmaker explained. “On top of that, there’s the crew that’s around, and day after day, we’re in a room stimulating these energies and reading these texts; the psychology is really complex, and I don’t care if you’re a believer or a nonbeliever, it’s a weird room to be in for a long period of time. ” (Left to right) Ellen Burstyn and director David Gordon Green on the set of ‘The Exorcist: .

. . [+] Believer.

‘ Universal Studios Having already had great success with creating a fresh narrative out of the Halloween franchise, early in the pandemic, Green and his creative partners, including Danny McBride, were approached by Morgan Creek’s James G. Robinson and David Robinson, who had bought the rights to The Exorcist . The father and son team had been waiting for the perfect time and the perfect team to relaunch it.

Although he knew it was an incredible honor and opportunity, Green paused before accepting. “I hesitated for 11 minutes,” he explained. “I was in my office with Danny, and we were midway through working on the horror franchise Halloween , and upstairs, we had the writing room of our comedy series, The Righteous Gemstones .

” “When I was doubting our consistency in a genre, he said, “You know what? It’s upstairs, we can laugh our butts off, and downstairs, we’re going to come and scare our pants off, so let’s keep it going. You’d be crazy to pass up this opportunity. ” It is the Holy Grail, and it became the mountain to climb.

We dove in and scribbled a story, then, our other co-writer, Peter Sattler, and I sat down and put pen to paper and made something we’re incredibly proud of. ” Similarly to the spiritual intensity of the set later in the process, Green needed the comedy project to be a safe harbor from the terror he and Sattler were coming up with. “I get up early and write, so I’m up writing at 3:30 AM,” the creative explained.

“There are those times where I would genuinely think, “I need to shake this one off and go have a laugh and go check in with the Gemstones crew and see what’s going on. ” There were still parts of taking on the task of caretaking the next steps of the iconic horror IP that terrified Green more than anything he could put down on paper. One of those things was how many of today’s audience connected to the original made five decades ago.

“A tough part of the job is to be able to bring a story to a new generation, and 50 years can be a long time to ask of someone in a cinematic diet. A young kid that may not want to watch a movie that’s 50 years old,” he admitted. “I’m convinced that if they watch and enjoy our film, they’ll reach back and enjoy and appreciate the inspiration of William Friedkin’s original.

There are enough nostalgia moments that I think we’re trying to thread, including the homage and appreciation of the original into our film. I’m hopeful there’s a movie here that spans generations and has something for everyone. ” (From left) Angela Fielding, played by Lidya Jewett, and Katherine, played by Olivia O’Neill, in .

. . [+] ‘The Exorcist: Believer.

‘ Universal Studios Green also knew that the performances of the The Exorcist: Believer ‘s ensemble cast would be vital to delivering the nightmarish potency of the original. Thankfully, the film succeeds. “Credit is due to Lidya Jewett and Olivia O’Neill, who play the two girls.

We had many moments that were genuinely terrifying to witness, particularly in that climactic sequence,” the director mused. “I don’t know how much of it is due to the exhaustion or the commitment to character, the emotional reality when you’re immersed in that character for that period of time under that degree of duress and prosthetic that these girls would be in, but sometimes you just had to call cut, take a breather, reset, shake out the energy, play Taylor Swift and dance your way out of it. ” “The cast would all have that look in their eye, and many of those looks are in the film, of, “What the hell is going on here?” Looking back and with the precautions we took, the safety we performed all this under, that at the moment when that energy is swirling, it was pretty profound.

” Green concluded, “The reality of making it, particularly the exorcism sequence, was daunting. There were so many logistics and effects happening simultaneously, on top of having young actresses who undergo two and a half hours of makeup because you want all of these effects to be achieved practically as much as possible, plus schooling and limited hours in their day. ” “You also had a lot of coverage because we have a lot of characters, and we’re trying to find the truth of these moments and drama at the same time.

The day goes by very fast when your ambition is that great, but when you have the right artists and technicians for that undertaking, it’s a breath of fresh air and a huge relief when you see it all come together like that. ” Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Check out my website .

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