The Exorcist pilot casts freaking Geena Davis

Last Updated on July 21, 2021

Fox's TV pilot based on The Exorcist still sounds like a dubious idea, but as casting carries on it's easier and easier to get on board. The newest addition is none other than Geena Davis, of David Cronenberg's THE FLY, BEETLEJUICE, and THELMA & LOUISE.

Now that The Exorcist has an Oscar winner involved (Best Supporting Actress for THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST), it's going to be impossible to ignore. 

Davis' character is Angela Rance. Angela is "naturally beautiful, regal and proud but weighed down by stress. [She] does everything she can to stay positive and keep her faith even though her family is currently struggling. She can’t help but think, however, if perhaps her nightmares about a demon are a sign of what’s wrong."

It sounds like she's a spiritual successor for Ellen Burstyn's Chris MacNeil. Incidentally, Ellen Burstyn has made a dazzling reappearance on Netflix's House of Cards, so the TV gods must be having a ball this year.

Jeremy Slater, writer of THE LAZARUS EFFECT, penned the story, which is:

a propulsive, serialized psychological thriller following two very different men tackling one family’s case of horrifying demonic possession and confronting the face of true evil.

Rupert Wyatt (RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES) is directing the pilot episode. Brianna Howey stars as Charlotte, the potentially possessed girl. Hannah Kasulka is her sister Casey, Ben Daniels is Father Marcus, "the intense holy warrior carrying out an occupation that the church no longer acknowledges in public," and Alfonso Herrera is Father Tomas, "the warm, selfless and compassionate leader of a small but hearty little church." Kurt Egyiawan is Father Bennett, "a liaison for the Vatican."