The acclaimed director has signed on to direct a prequel to The Exorcist.
The as-yet-untitled fourth installment of the scarifying series goes back in time to chronicle Father Merrin's first run-in with the devil during missionary work in post-World War II Africa. (Fans, of course, will remember Merrin was the aging priest in the original played by screen legend Max Von Sydow.)
The prequel was adapted by screenwriter William Wisher from the 1973 novel by William Peter Blatty and given a fresh polish by writer Caleb Carr. Frankenheimer grew interested in the project and quickly came aboard after reading Carr's rewrite.
"We signed Frankenheimer on the strength of a very extensive rewrite by Caleb Carr and we're very happy to have an A-plus director," says executive producer Jonathan Zimbert. The prequel, he says, "traces Father Merrin's first encounter with the Devil [taken from] about a page or so of The Exorcist novel."
Warner Bros. released director William Friedkin's original frightfest in 1973. It revolves around the demon possession of a 12-year-old girl (a vomit-spewing Linda Blair) and a priest's attempts to rid her body of evil. The film made an indelible mark on pop culture and went on to become a box-office phenomenon, at the time becoming the second biggest moneymaker ever (behind The Godfather). It also won Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound, as well as a Golden Globe for Best Picture in 1974. It spawned two frighteningly bad sequels--1977's Exorcist II: The Heretic, and 1990's Exorcist III.
Just last year, Friedkin revisited his horror classic, adding 12 minutes of never-before-seen footage, and Warner Bros. rereleased the film to another round of commercial success. The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen convinced the studio to continue the saga.
Frankenheimer has won four Emmys for Best Director (for TNT's George Wallace and Andersonville and HBO's Against the Wall and The Burning Season), and just this week he collected a lifetime achievement award for directing at the Hollywood Film Festival.
Frankenheimer also most recently got behind the wheel of BMW Films' online action flick/commercial, Ambush, and directed last year's Reindeer Games.
The filmmaker is planning to segue into the prequel once he completes work on Path, a film about President Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War, which he's directing for HBO. While a cast has yet to be set, the Exorcist prequel is slated to begin shooting next spring.