Silliest PR of the day

CURSE OF ‘THE EXORCIST’: THE E! TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY
PREMIERES ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 15 AT 8:00 PM ET/PT

EPISODE ALMOST DOESN’T MAKE IT TO AIR ON TIME!

Two-Hour Episode Includes Exclusive Interviews with Linda Blair and Members of the Original Film Crew, Plus Director Renny Harlin

Production of “The E! True Hollywood Story” Also Plagued
by Unexplained, Strange Occurrences

Los Angeles, August 4, 2004 – Often dubbed “The Scariest Movie of All Time,” The Exorcist not only thrilled audiences, the film also possessed its productions as well. Now just a week before the release of Exorcist: The Beginning, this two-hour installment of The E! True Hollywood Story explores the curse of The Exorcist. From the freak motorcycle accident that critically injured the son of lead actor Jason Miller to the mysterious blaze that allegedly destroyed one of the sets, to the untimely death of one of the co-stars, the original cast and crew of The Exorcist were playing with fire. In fact, the crew was so spooked and so sure there were supernatural factors at work, that priests were sent to bless the set. However, this didn’t stop frightening events from happening on and off the set. Viewers discover how the curse has carried on over three decades to haunt the casts of Exorcist II, III and even the new prequel Exorcist: The Beginning. The sudden death of director John Frankenheimer, and near death of director Renny Harlin, both point to a curse that has followed the film to present day. Tune into “Curse of the Exorcist: The E! True Hollywood Story” premiering Sunday, August 15 at 8:00 PM ET/PT.

In another strange twist, the production crew in charge of putting together this specific episode of E! True Hollywood Story was also plagued with eerie and unexplainable events. From an IV bag filled with fake blood (from the set of ER) suddenly “bleeding” over the associate producer’s desk, destroying forms recently signed by Exorcist actor Eileen Dietz (Linda Blair’s double in the first film) to the segment producer being rushed to the emergency room when her throat started to swell (the hospital couldn’t identify a cause-the producer was released) to repeated production problems with Linda Blair’s interview in the edit bay, and system woes causing the loss of nearly 40% of the episode, the show’s staff struggled to get the episode on the air in time. Coincidence?

E! uncovers the spooky, eerie and downright frightening occurrences The Exorcist’s cast experienced from the summer of 1973 until now.

In the episode:

The Exorcist crewmember Chris Newman – “It was the kind of movie where when the movie was finished, all you wanted to do was leave the movie business and never have anything to do with (it) again.”

Father W. O’Malley (who appeared in the original film) on writer William Blatty, who penned the book The Exorcist - “The reason it was a stunner was that Bill Blatty did his homework. Blatty researched it, he based it on a real situation, a historical factual situation about a boy who was possessed.”

The Exorcist make-up artist Dick Smith on transforming Blair’s character – “I come in for a conference and the first thing he (director William Friedkin) does is show me a picture of Linda Blair, and here’s this cute, little twelve-year old girl with a chubby face and everything. And I already learned what the basic story is, and I think, “Oh my god, what am I gonna do with this? How can I change this into a believable little monster.’”

Exorcist star Linda Blair on her character’s extreme profanity, which upset her co-star Max Von Sydow – “Number one, remember, I don’t want to say these things anyway, so I’m assuming he’s (Von Sydow) prepared [laugh]. But he wasn’t prepared…he yelled ‘Cut’ and he was appalled and I don’t blame him And then he and Friedkin went and talked, yeah, you forget about the person receiving that language, you know, that wasn’t easy for anybody. I didn’t want to say it and people didn’t want to hear it.”

Producer James Robinson (CEO of Morgan Creek Productions) on The Exorcist: The Beginning set troubles – “Did I think we had a lot of bad luck? I’ve never had so much damn bad luck.”

Robinson – “I’m not the most religious person but I do believe that, I believe there’s good and I believe there’s evil. And this is going sound corny but I really believe this, nobody can take your soul. You have to voluntarily give it up. Nobody can make you become evil, you’ve gotta, you’ve gotta embrace it so, I think this movie kind of … not kind of, this movie does send that message. You see it very, very clearly.”

The Exorcist director William Friedkin (archival) on Jane Fonda turning down the role of the mother (which went to Ellen Burstyn) in the original film – “And then it was offered to Jane Fonda who read it and whose response was, remember now this was the early seventies (laughs), Jane Fonda said, ‘Why would I want to appear in a piece of capitalist horse shit?’”

Blair on actress Mercedes McCambridge preparing for the “raspy” voice of Blair when she’s possessed – “I know how hard she (Mercedes) worked because Billy Friedkin told me that he kept her up 24 hours, that he had her drinking and swallowing egg yolks and vomiting and smoking cigarettes and so she went through a lot. She did her own performance in order to give that performance. And it’s incredible.”

Writer John Kenneth Muir on audience reaction to The Exorcist – “People were running up and down the aisles. There were people, they reported, they fainted or that people were vomiting or that people were praying. It was just this intense visceral reaction to the film.”

Exorcist: The Beginning director Renny Harlin on dealing with “the curse” – “And when I went home the next day I wake up to my dog screaming in pain and I see my dog hemorrhaging on to the floor, spraying blood.” (the dog survived)

The Exorcist director of photography Owen Roizman – “I’ve often thought of analogies of working on that film and I think the best one I can come up with is, it’s like taking a trip to hell and living to tell about it.”

Based in Los Angeles, E! Networks is the world’s largest producer and distributor of entertainment news and lifestyle-related programming. The company operates E! Entertainment Television, the 24-hour network with programming dedicated to the world of entertainment; The Style Network, where life gets a new look, and E! Online, located at Eonline.com. E! is currently available to 85 million cable and direct broadcast satellite subscribers in the U.S. The Style Network currently counts 36 million subscribers with commitments to reach over 40 million in 2004. E! Online, the #1 entertainment news and celebrity gossip Website, reaches 6 million monthly unique U.S. adult users.

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