Ellen Burstyn has delivered a blunt response to the latest Exorcist film, saying there have been enough movies in the long-running horror series.
The 93-year-old actress, who played Chris MacNeil, the mother of possessed Regan MacNeil, in the 1973 original, was asked about The Exorcist: Martyrs in a new interview.
“Isn’t there enough already of the Exorcist thing?” Burstyn said. “It’s enough already.”
Ellen Burstyn’s return to The Exorcist
Burstyn returned to the franchise for 2023’s The Exorcist: Believer, which was intended to launch a new trilogy.
She had previously rejected approaches to reprise the role, but eventually agreed after being offered a significantly higher payment. Burstyn said the money made her feel as though “the devil is asking my price”.
Her eventual condition was that a scholarship programme be created for talented students on the master’s degree programme at Pace University. She said the arrangement resulted in a scholarship programme for young actors.
The Exorcist: Martyrs is a separate story in the horror universe and is not connected to the cancelled trilogy Burstyn had been signed to star in.
Mike Flanagan is writing and directing the new film, which stars Scarlett Johansson, Sasha Calle, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Diane Lane and Jacobi Jupe. It has been described as a “radical new take” and is due to arrive in cinemas on 12 March 2027.
