Last year, word broke that Martha Marcy May Marlene director, Sean Durkin was shopping an adaptation of “The Exorcist” to various networks as a ten part miniseries. However, William Peter Blatty — the writer of The Exorcist novel and the screenplay — later said that the stories about Durkin’s Exorcist project were “utterly false” before adding that he was working on his own TV remake of “The Exorcist with William Friedkin, the director of the 1973 feature film.
According to Deadline, Morgan Creek is now pushing a new TV version of “The Exorcist” with Jeremy Slater set to write the script and Roy Lee (The Departed) on board as an executive producer.
The Deadline report states that Slater has a “brand new take on the material,” but this is essentially the same project that Durkin was previously attached to. If Blatty was correct in asserting that he has the rights to his novel and he is not involved with Morgan Creek then this could lead to a legal battle to determine who has control of the property.
In the meantime, the newest TV incarnation of “The Exorcist” is said to have interest from both broadcast and cable networks.
