It appears as if FOX is moving ahead with it’s plans for a television series based on William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist. It has order a pilot to be penned by Fantastic Four scribe, Jeremy Slater. He will write the one-hour drama for 20th Century Fox Television, in the hope to launch a full blown series. Most fans will support me when I say, WHY!
The original 1973 film was based on Blatty’s book which he published two years previous. Following Regan, a 12-year-old girl, who is possessed by the evil spirits, the exorcist was one of the most terrifying films to ever be made, grossing more than $232 million at the box office. I can understand FOX wants to try and make more money on the franchise, but I fail to see how a TV series would work, unless the show follows Father Damien Karras as a main character. If the show was about Karras travelling around defeating evil, it would be just like half a dozen other shows with the same story line.
As the Pilot season kicks off, we’ll probably see many other crazy pilot ideas show up, but for now, this will keep most of us up at nights…and not for the right reasons.