The Exorcist reboot trilogy on the way with Ellen Bursyn reprising her role

Universal is all set to pay a whopping $400 million for the rights to a new trilogy for The Exorcist. Ellen Burstyn will reprise her Oscar-nominated role of Chris MacNeil in the upcoming reboot. 

According to reports, David Gordan Green will helm the reboot project. Green directed the Halloween reboot that was a box office hit. Halloween Kills, the second movie in the trilogy will be released later this year, after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. 

Joining Burstyn in the reboot will be Leslie Odom Jr., the Tony award winner for Hamilton and the double Oscar nominee. He will be playing the father of a child, who is demonically possessed. 

According to a New York Times report, the movie will release in theatres in 2023 while the subsequent ones will debut on Universal’s streaming platform, Peacock.

The reboot will be seen as a direct continuation to the 1973 cult classic blockbuster The Exorcist, which had won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. The Exorcist was an R-rated movie based on William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel about a mother and her demonically possessed daughter, and the mother’s attempt to rescue the daughter through an exorcism.

Linda Blair, Max von Sydow, Lee J Cobb, Jack MacGowran, Kitty Winn and Jason Miller were part of the cast of the movie. A number of prequels and sequels were made to The Exorcist, including a TV series but were not successful. The upcoming movie will ignore these instalments and will be a direct continuation to the 1973 original.