Deadline is reporting that Morgan Creek Entertainment is developing a reboot of The Exorcist. This is a somewhat unexpected development, especially as the company Tweeted out a message to fans in 2015 stating, "For the record, we will never attempt to remake [The Exorcist]."
The key difference here may be that a reboot is (generally perceived to be) different to a remake, and as the trade explains, "Current Morgan Creek projects include Stay Tuned at AMC, with a planned theatrical reboot of The Exorcist in the works for 2021."
After William Friedkin's classic 1973 film, The Exorcist became a franchise, spawning a series of sequels and prequels along with a short-lived TV series. Rebooting the franchise as a whole is an idea with some potential, and there are other ideas that could be borrowed from William Peter Blatty's novel of the same name (though he did pen the film's screenplay, so anything he wanted to include was likely already in that adaptation).
All the sequels and prequels flopped, while the TV series lasted only two years before getting the axe. If Morgan Creek Entertainment are indeed rebooting the property, they will need to make sure that top tier talent is involved in order to ensure this new take on The Exorcist works.
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