March 24, 2005 - The story surrounding the filming of Exorcist: The Beginning is, in some ways, more interesting than the actual vomit-spewing film that made it to theaters under the Warner Brothers banner last year. The film's backers originally hired director Paul Schrader to helm the film after their first choice, the now-deceased John Frankenheimer, withdrew due to health reasons.

Schrader aimed to make a prequel worthy of the original Exorcist, preferring "old-fashioned" psychological suspense to blood-and-guts horror. After production on the expensive film ended, Morgan Creek and Warner Bros. realized that Schrader's movie was not what they had had in mind.

According to Fox News' Roger Friedman, James Robinson, who calls the shots at Morgan Creek equated "Exorcist" with "vomit" and couldn't appreciate Schrader's approach. Schrader got the axe, and Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger) was brought in to re-shoot the entire picture.

After spending a whole new $35 million production budget, Warner released the film to dismal reviews and a poor box office take. Anxious to make money off the project any way they could, Morgan Creek hired editor Tim Silano to make a cut of Schrader's version that could be included with the DVD as a bonus feature.

Silano then secretly contacted Paul Schrader and offered to help him finish his film. Schrader grabbed the opportunity, and presented his cut of Exorcist: The Beginning at the recent Brussels Fantasy Film Festival. From the sounds of things, a lot of critics actually liked it.

"Schrader's intelligent, quietly subversive pic emphasizes spiritual agony over horror ecstasy, while paying occasional lip service to the need for scares," wrote Variety magazine. "Schrader has delivered a 100 percent Paul
Schrader film, drenched in the spiritual and moral angst that's watermarked
his career."

So what is Warner Brothers' response? Now that they see money-making potential in the film they never wanted, they've decided to give the Schrader version another go. The Schrader version of Exorcist: The Beginning will likely be released in theaters within the next two months.