If a crappy sequel, an unrelated sequel, and dueling prequels couldn’t stop Hollywood from milking THE EXORCIST franchise, a television series might do the trick.
Sean Durkin, writer-director of MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, is developing the ten episode series which will be shopped to networks in the next few weeks. But he does not plan on copying William Friedkin’s 1973 classic. According to Vulture, Durkin’s version of THE EXORCIST follows the events leading up to a demonic possession and especially the after-effects of how a family copes with it: In short, not well (really, after you start seeing stuff like this, can you blame them?), and when medical and psychiatric explanations fail, the desperate family turns to the church, with Father Damien Karras finally brought in to attempt the exorcism.
While I count THE EXORCIST amongst my all-time favorite movies, I am intrigued by the prospect of converting it into a mini-series. Note that I said “mini”-series. You would never be able to stretch the story over multiple seasons without it becoming truly laughable. I also would hate to see it become WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN PAZUZU? and have a different person get posessed each season. No, just stick with the source material and flesh it out respectfully.
What do you think about an EXORCIST series?