The Exorcism hits theaters on June 21st.
Russell Crowe’s 2023 horror movie The Pope’s Exorcist was a modest hit in its theatrical run, but its arrival on streaming platforms saw its following grow. In an unexpected turn of events, Crowe is starring in the similarly titled The Exorcism, though this new take on the unsettling experience explores an all-new type of terror, with an exclusive clip from the upcoming film offering only a glimpse of what’s in store for audiences in the ambitious take on the familiar formula. You can check out the clip from The Exorcism above before the movie lands in theaters on June 21st.
The new film is described, “Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe stars as Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play.” The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg, and David Hyde Pierce.
Despite the similar titles, there’s no connection between The Exorcism and The Pope’s Exorcist, other than the former could be seen as a metatextual exploration of making the latter. Co-writer Joshua John Miller shared with ComicBook his reaction to discovering two similarly titled movies starring Russell Crowe being made.
As far as whether he was aware of the other film, Miller joked, “No! And I wasn’t happy about it … originally. But now, in an interesting way, it actually is helping The Exorcism. Now people are like, ‘Wait, is this connected?’ The brand confusion, that’s a whole other conversation. But I think there’s something actually awesome about, ‘Oh, there’s a movie that’s a literal, straight-up genre movie, and now there’s a making of an exorcism movie?’ I think there’s a cool conversation to be had about that.”
He continued, “[Russell Crowe], I don’t think he would admit to being afraid of anything, he’s such a tough guy, even though he’s incredibly vulnerable. Ultimately, I was like, angry, I’m pissed, and then I was like, ‘Who cares? Our movies are so different, who cares?’ You make the movie you gotta make, and it’s all you can do. You just focus on the process and you make the best you can, that’s all that matters. Focus on trying to make it better and better and better and better as long as you can. I look at the movie right now and think, ‘I wanna do 30 more things to it.’ In a year, I’ll think the same way.”
The Exorcism hits theaters on June 21st.
Are you looking forward to the new movie? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!Â
