Both EXORCIST prequels on DVD?

By Patrick Sauriol     April 14, 2004
Source: Variety

If you've been following the long and tortured development and production of EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING, then you already know that the movie was filmed twice. When director Paul Schrader first filmed his version of the fourth EXORCIST film, little did he know that his movie would be rejected by Morgan Creek Productions executives who felt that it didn't deliver enough in-your-face frights. Morgan Creek eventually decided to hire director Renny Harlin (DIE HARD 2) to re-shoot the film, upping the action quotient, extensively rewriting the script and even recasting roles. Eventually it was decided to completely re-do the film. As it stands today two separate versions of EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING exist; while both pictures' premises are the same (a young Father Merrin battles the Devil in post World War II Africa), the look, style, pacing and atmosphere of the films are said to be wildly different.

Now what was considered impossible may be a reality: there's talk of bringing both versions of EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING to the public. Morgan Creek's James Robinson has made a case to release both Schrader and Harlin's versions of the movie on DVD, a move that's never been attempted before but that is embraced by Schrader. While it's good news for film fans eager to see what both movies are like, a variety of legal concerns have to be overcome before the idea can become a reality. For instance, how does releasing two different versions of the same film affect copyrights or royalties?

Harlin's EXORCIST is currently slotted for an August release. If the legal matters concerning the DVD releases can be worked out, both Harlin and Schrader's EXORCIST pictures would come out on home video at the same time.