Now that the first spooky trailer is here for The Exorcist: Believer, it’s obvious Oscar-winner Ellen Burstyn is fulfilling a similar kind of role that Jamie Lee Curtis did in 2018’s Halloween. However, Burstyn’s return is all the more impressive for one key reason — 30 of them, in fact!
You see, one of the major hooks of the Michael Myers-centered slasher film was the fact that the Laurie Strode character, portrayed by Academy Award-winner Curtis, could still kick the serial killer’s butt at a more advanced age with her wits and frankly neurotic survivalist tendencies. Indeed, the way Laurie transformed from a demure teen babysitter in the 1978 original film into a woman with PTSD worked so well for the movie because the filmmakers did not ignore Curtis being older, but embraced it as part of the character development.
Now, we are poised to get something that looks similar with The Exorcist: Believer as the star of the 1972 original, Burstyn, is returning as the same character in a direct sequel to The Exorcist. In all likelihood, we are expecting some kind of character transformation akin to Laurie’s for Burstyn’s Chris MacNeil. The trailer has already heavily suggested that Chris is going to have some kind of role in a brand new exorcism involving two girls since the demon seems to be the same one from the first film.
However, a jaw-dropping aspect of Burstyn’s return to the franchise is the fact that she is 90 years old, but by the look of the trailer, has not lost a step one bit with her acting abilities. That is more than 30 years older than when Curtis returned to Halloween at 59 in 2018.
It may not surprise you to know that both the Halloween 2018 reboot and The Exorcist: Believer were made by the same production company, Blumhouse, and the same creative team behind it, director David Gordon Green and writer Danny McBride, among others. Just like Gordon Green’s Halloween films, including Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, The Exorcist: Believer is slated to be the first installment in a new trilogy. If the filmmakers can bring the same level of quality writing and direction for the Halloween films as they do with the Exorcist franchise, we can expect to see another great show-stopper from a Scream Queen legend once more.
The Exorcist: Believer comes to theaters on Oct. 6.