I've really been looking forward to seeing Exorcist: The Beginning, considering that I'm a huge fan of the book and the original movie. But I read something on the IMDb's trivia page for the film yesterday that makes me somewhat apprehensive about the quality of this prequel:
Morgan Creek Productions fired Paul Schrader after he had submitted a completed movie, saying that he had given them "footage without any of the bloody violence the backers had wanted". He had already made it clear in interviews that he was making more of a psychological drama than an all-out gore-fest. He was fired and Renny Harlin was hired to re-shoot the movie. Almost 90% of the movie was re-shot and at least two characters have been dropped from Paul Schrader's version of the movie.
So these fabled backers wanted a movie that emphasizes "bloody violence" over psychological drama... great. Granted, the original film was pretty graphic in spots, but the psyhological impact was what really made it the great movie that it is. I really hope The Beginning doesn't disappoint me.
