The Exorcist: Believerdirector David Gordon Green is revealing how he persuadedEllen Burstynto return to the beloved horror franchise.
Green, 48, says that he started recruiting the horror icon to return forBeliever"before she read the script.““It was in the early stages of writing and regardless of any ambition of a collaboration, I wanted to introduce myself and say, ‘I’m stepping into a legacy of a franchise that you’re a monumental part of, and I want you to know who I am and I want you to know I’m here to respect this property and the IP and the character that you created,’ " Green tells PEOPLE.
“And so then that was a few phone calls when I introduced the idea of what I would like to do with Chris MacNeil and how I’d like to reintroduce that character,” he adds. “And she’s obviously very skeptical at this point because people have asked her dozens of times to step back into the franchise.”
(from left) Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) and Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom, Jr.) in The Exorcist: Believer.Anne Marie Fox/Universal Pictures
Anne Marie Fox/Universal Pictures
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Green says that as he and Burstyn circled the idea of her return, “she got a kick out of my strange sense of humor and conversations went from everything from movies to self-help to places in the world that meant something to us.”
“And so when she read the draft of the script and saw the intentions that I had, she realized that it kind of mirrored in some ways her journey on this earth post success of the filmThe Exorcist —the world I’m trying to create with the Chris MacNeil character after the events in Georgetown,” he tells PEOPLE. “So there was a familiarity to it.”
Green also promises moreExorcistsequels are on the way, telling PEOPLE: “I’ve got a trilogy designed and we’ll see how far I can take it.”
The Exorcist: Believerreleases in theaters Oct. 6. Above, watch a video teasing Burstyn’s return toThe Exorcistfranchise.
source: people.com
