Details

Release year: 2005

Storyline

Decades before Father Merrin helped save Regan MacNeil's soul, he first encounters the demon Pazuzu in Kenya. Merrin's initial battle with Pazuzu leads to the rediscovery of his faith.

Top credits

Directors

Paul Schrader

Writers

Cast

Stellan Skarsgård — Father Lankester Merrin
Gabriel Mann — Father Francis
Clara Bellar — Rachel Lesno
Billy Crawford — Cheche

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Did you know

• Morgan Creek Productions allocated director Paul Schrader a budget of $35,000 to complete post-production and visual effects for his version of the film. The budget did not accommodate a completely new score; the final music combines compositions from the band Dog Fashion Disco with cues recycled from the score of the studio's previously released version. Morgan Creek Productions scheduled the film's limited release for May 20, 2005, the same opening weekend as Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005).

• Gabriel Mann attended the audition for director Paul Schrader while wearing clerical clothing. He carried a DVD copy of The Exorcist (1973) during the meeting. Paul Schrader cast him in the role immediately following this presentation.

• Paul Schrader directed the original production of the Dummy Love (1921) script under the title Exorcist: The Beginning (2004). Morgan Creek Productions executives labeled the resulting psychological thriller approach commercially unmarketable. The studio subsequently commissioned a comprehensive rewrite and reshoot of the project with director Renny Harlin. Morgan Creek initially planned a direct to video release for the Paul Schrader version as a supplemental feature on the Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) DVD. The studio abandoned the bonus feature plan following the poor box office performance of the Renny Harlin film. This shift in strategy allowed for a limited theatrical release and film festival screenings under the title Dummy Love (1921). William Peter Blatty provided public support for the Paul Schrader version during its 2005 release. The author described the film as an elegant and classy piece of work in a statement to the Houston Chronicle.