By LILA SEIDMAN | Reporter
Fans of William Friedkin’s 1973 classic “The Exorcist” can be forgiven for wondering if there’s just enough story (or scares) to stretch the concept into a show of indeterminate length. Fox is confident it can. Viewers can decide themselves Friday, Sept. 28 at 9 p.m.
Fast-forwarded 40 years but firmly in the same universe as the original, the eponymous series nods to its iconic predecessor rather than mirroring it. In the pilot, Father Tomas Ortega (Alfonso Herrera), an exorcism newbie, comes across the case of the original’s victim-of-evil, Regan MacNeil. He’s scouring the web for info after his parishioner, Angela Rance, played by Palisadian Geena Davis, asks him for help with her demonically challenged teen daughter (Brianne Howey).
Photos courtesy of Fox
Davis, who has worked extensively to combat sexism in Hollywood, also provided the show’s producers with constructive feedback. Half of the show’s writers and one of its directors are women, and she said female character arcs are front-and-
center.
Whether or not “The Exorcist” ends up on the pile of unnecessary IP rehash or expands a beloved canon, it’s a great way to get your Halloween season spooks.
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