The Exorcist TV Series Can’t Be Canon With The New Blumhouse Trilogy

Blumhouse and Halloween director David Gordon Green are prepping a new trilogy of Exorcist movies, but they already can’t be canon with the TV show.

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Blumhouse and Halloween director David Gordon Green are prepping a new trilogy of Exorcist movies, but they already can’t be canon with the TV show. When it comes to horror movies, there are few in the league of acclaim and staying power that The Exorcist occupies. Given its heavily religious subject matter, one might assume it would only be effective on those with Christian beliefs, but instead, the terrifying themes and events of The Exorcist tend to resonate with just about everyone.

Directed by the legendary William Friedkin, The Exorcist was an awards season darling, earned glowing reviews from critics, and is a shining example of when horror movies manage to break free from the specific box they’re so often unfairly put in by non-fans. Unfortunately, The Exorcist franchise may be the single biggest example of quality drop-off in the history of the genre, alongside things like Hellraiser and The Howling. Only The Exorcist 3 is generally regarded as being any good, and even then, that took decades to happen, and it’s far from a universal opinion.

That’s one reason that FOX’s short-lived Exorcist TV series was such a pleasant surprise for many. Not only was it scary and thought-provoking, but it managed that while not relying on the cheap jump scares that permeate modern Hollywood horror. As viewers will know, the show also pulled off a twist partway through that brilliantly cemented it as canon with the films. Unfortunately, while little is known about Blumhouse’s Exorcist trilogy, one casting decision they’ve already announced means the TV series is being ignored.

Chris In The Exorcist Movie And TV Show

While Linda Blair’s Regan MacNeil, the young demonic possession victim at the heart of the story, is probably the character that most quickly springs to mind when people think of The Exorcist, Ellen Burstyn’s contributions as Chris MacNeil shouldn’t be discounted. Burstyn carries the dramatic weight of the central conflict on her shoulders for much of the running time, as her Chris is a loving mother that just can’t figure out how to help her daughter. Once she’s exhausted all conventional means, she looks to the church and its now rarely performed rite of exorcism.

Burstyn received her second Oscar nomination for The Exorcist, finally winning the following year for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Sadly, for the franchise anyway, she never reprised her role in the sequels, although she arguably dodged a major bullet by not doing so. Chris is never played by anyone else in the movies either, but did appear on FOX’s Exorcist TV show. According to the show, Chris – played by Burn Notice’s Sharon Gless – ended up trying to capitalize on her daughter’s ordeal by writing a book, which led a grown-up Regan to change her name to Angela Rance to try and avoid the spotlight. Chris returns to Regan’s life when her granddaughter goes missing, after the child ends up possessed by a demon herself, leaving Regan to experience a version of what her mother went through decades prior.

How Chris Dies In The Exorcist TV Series

The Exorcist season 1 revealing that Angela Rance (Geena Davis) was in fact a grown-up Regan MacNeil was a truly surprising twist for many fans, and was pulled off splendidly. In many shows, it would be hard to follow that kind of revelation up with anything close to as surprising, but that’s exactly what The Exorcist did. After the return of Regan’s daughter Casey, Regan begins acting strangely confrontational with Chris, and in a shocking scene, brutally snaps her neck around in a manner akin to how a possessed Regan’s head spun around on her shoulders in the original movie. The method of death was also similar to how drunken director Burke Dennings was killed.

Chris’ time on The Exorcist series was brief, but highly eventful, and it was a left-field move to quickly kill off such an iconic character after just bringing her back. Such creative decisions were a big reason why: while it was never a ratings hit, The Exorcist earned a loyal cult of followers during its brief run on TV. However, with Ellen Burstyn officially signed on to play Chris in at least one installment of Blumhouse’s new Exorcist trilogy, that makes it impossible for these new movies to incorporate the events of the TV show into their canon. That’s disappointing in one sense, as director David Gordon Green previously revealed that he’s not planning to retcon any of the prior movie sequels, while focusing on continuing on from the original plot. Sadly, the show isn’t being invited to that party.

Why It’s Good The Exorcist Movies Don’t Follow The Show

While the Exorcist TV show being ignored will certainly disappoint its fans, there’s another side to the coin as well. First and foremost, getting Burstyn, who remains a highly respected actor, back to play Chris after nearly 50 years is a true casting coup, and it’s something many Exorcist fans are understandably excited for. Precluding that possibility simply to please the relatively small fanbase of the TV show just wouldn’t make sense, even if the show did introduce interesting ideas to the franchise. If Blair comes back in some capacity as Regan too, all the better — but she already came back for the first Exorcist 2, so that’s less of a big deal.

Plus, as mentioned previously, while The Exorcist TV show drew cheers from critics and those who did watch, that’s still not that many people, especially not when compared to those who’ve seen the movies. Forcing the new Blumhouse Productions movie trilogy to conform to the continuity of the show could potentially create a thousand headaches for Green and crew, even beyond forgoing the blockbuster casting of Burstyn. It’s best for all involved for the Exorcist show to remain safely nestled inside its own pocket universe, free to be what it is, while the Blumhouse Exorcist trilogy is free to do the same. One won’t damage the other, and both can peacefully coexist, assuming the new movies do turn out well, as rare worthy follow-ups to Friedkin’s Oscar-winning 1973 classic. Watching either one could then make for an excellent day for an exorcism.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/exorcist-movie-tv-show-non-canon-chris-macneil-death/