The one complaint I have about the classic horror flick THE EXORCIST is that it's a less-than faithful adaptation of the source novel, by William Peter Blatty. The upcoming Fox TV series The Exorcist claims to be more faithful to the novel, which is the only reason I've even been paying attention. However, the most recent casting announcement has given me another reason.
Taking on the roles of two helpful priests are Ben Daniels and Alfonso Herrera. Daniels (LOCKE, DOOM) has most recently been seen in House of Cards as the lascivious photographer Adam Galloway and will be playing Father Marcus, "the intense holy warrior carrying out an occupation that the church no longer acknowledges in public."
Herrera (Sense8) will be playing Father Tomas, "the warm, selfless and compassionate leader of a small but hearty little church." They're not exactly Merrin and Karras so that calls into doubt the series' faithfulness, but both these actors have excellent TV screen presence and their casting can only be good news.
Jeremy Slater, writer of THE LAZARUS EFFECT, penned the story, which is:
a propulsive, serialized psychological thriller following two very different men tackling one family’s case of horrifying demonic possession and confronting the face of true evil.
Rupert Wyatt (RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES) is directing the pilot episode, so at least he has experience making pointless remakes into something interesting. The pilot also stars Brianna Howey as Charlotte, the potentially possessed girl, and Hannah Kasulka as her sister Casey.
Ben Daniels