The Exorcist: Believer is the first Exorcist film to directly connect to the first horror classic.
We had the pleasure of sitting down with Producer Stephanie Allain to talk about her upcoming film The Exorcist: Believer,a new beginning for the franchise directed by David Gordon Green with the original star herself Ellen Burstyn. Watch the interview below to hear about Stephanie Allain’s role in the film as well as the process that went into making this updated adaptation of the original film.
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The Knockturnal: Congrats on the film! You know, huge, I guess, reboot or sequel? Can you tell us a little bit about it without giving too much away?
Stephanie Allain: Yes, of course. So, The Exorcist: Believer is a new beginning for The Exorcist franchise, which started 50 years ago with The Exorcist. There have been lots of movies in between, but our movie The Exorcist: Believer really harkens back to the original as if the others never happened — it’s the only movie that actually has Ellen Burstyn who is, you know, in the original and in ours 50 years spread with the same character which is fantastic. And David Gordon Green has really reimagined it while keeping the same essence of the original; so, it’s very smart, it’s very scary, and there’s double the fun because now there’s not just one little girl who gets possessed, but it’s two!
The Knockturnal: Doing a movie 50 years later, what were the challenges of having that 50 year [gap]?
Stephanie Allain: Well, the great news is we started with a great movie. I mean, The Exorcist was dominating, it’s an it’s an incredible movie — it has stood the test of time; if you watch it today, it is as scary and as effective as it was. But look, we started with the “Master of Horror” Jason Blum. You know, he is the guy who understands modern horror. He’s so successful. I think his collaboration with David Gordon Green on the Halloween Franchise, as Halloween was so successful, he thought let’s tackle the biggest horror film of all, is, you know, as good as the original. That’s that’s the talent and I think they pulled together so many amazing artists and actors led by the incomparable Leslie Odom Jr.
And so having the face of Leslie as the lead of this movie, I think is so impactful, because this moment was number one worldwide, with the black lead. That’s pretty great.
The Knockturnal: Yes especially for a horror movie, especially since Candyman came out its been good that we’ve transitioned.
Stephanie Allain: Look, we used to be the first ones to die in these movies, Okay? So we’re not we’re staying around in the end no spoiler alert, but you know, it’s great. It’s so exciting for me who you know has made so many movies over the last 30 years that that tries to demolish stereotypes. right and having this black man who’s a single dad so caring about his daughter is beautiful representation that we haven’t seen.
The Knockturnal: I love that. Well, I think that that’s definitely a good shift in horror movies to having rather than repeating the same [story], you’re having a different take on familiar story which I feel like like you said, Jason Blum is very, very good. at
Stephanie Allain: Not only that Tony, but our movie opens up the world, opens up the community. It’s not just a catholic ritual, we’re bringing in all faiths, were bringing in the angelic were bringing in the Catholic’s. It’s a movie that basically says it takes a village to defeat evil. I think that’s such a great metaphor for the world today. And that’s part of what gives that sense of contemporary thought.
The Knockturnal: I wanted to ask you, you mentioned, you know, there’s David Gordon Green who was the director of the project and you know, Jason Blum and you’re an executive producer yourself that when having this movie with so many, so many different moving parts, how do you how do you ensure that the movie turns out as intended?
Stehanie Allain: I think David had a complete vision for the movie from the beginning. As with any movie, once you get into it, you see opportunities that you want to take advantage of. So things shifted a little, but to be honest, David knew he would. He knew that he wanted to dueling families. he knew that he wanted to bring in the community that it wasn’t just one one guy against the devil that it was that it was a community and Dowd who is spectacular plays a huge role in this movie. So I think it’s all it’s all planned but it’s also fluid in the way that, you know, filmmakers, make movies.
The Knockturnal: I don’t know how much time we have left, but I’m just gonna keep asking you questions about you, personally. So how did you get started in filmmaking, and have you done a horror movei before?
Stephanie Allain: This is my first off it’s not my last in the genre because my first movie was Boys N’ the Hood. So my first [film] was with John Singleton, we made five movies together: Boys N’ the Hood, Poetic Justice, Higher Learning, Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan. I miss him so much. But, I started as a reader, I started as reader because I love to read actually read Peter Gladis’ The Exorcist when I was 12 before I saw the movie.
And so I come from a story point of view or creative point of view, and have always really championed writer/directors especially black writer/directors or directors of color whether it’s Robert Rodriguez or or Justin Simien with Dear White People or Craig Brewer, who you know, I adore telling these stories that have intense representation. So that’s how I started, I read Boys N the Hood, I flipped out and said, “This movie has to get made I made it my business to get it made.” We got it made, it was nominated, it puts us on the map, and it really started sort of a new wave of black cinema in the 90s which wasn’t just comics and villains but real people experiencing real life. And and I’m so proud of that. Because when you see yourself on screen, something clicks, you are valued, you are worthy to be up on that big screen. I think it also sends a message to the audience that these people are valued. these people are worthy for the big screen. So that’s been my mission, and I’m gonna stick with it.
The Knockturnal: That’s a really good mission to have — you’re like fulfilling what you want to do, but at the same time, you’re helping other people like, feel the same thing that either you’ve always wanted to feel or like you felt and thats noble very noble. Let me ask you one last question. and I think we’re coming up on our last minute. so I did want to ask.
Do you have a movie that you saw growing up, that made you want to make movies?
Stephanie Allain: Yes for movies — I’m an avid reader, so literally, this isn’t for show, but The Exorcist and The Godfather came out within a year of each other. the power of those two movies did something to me made me feel like there was a world and I didn’t even know directors, producers… I had no idea. I just knew that telling stories on the screen was valuable and I wanted to be part of it. And so the only way I knew was as a reader because I have a degree in literature. I went in through reading, I came up through the studio system as an executive to become a producer. And I feel like I’m right where I need to be right now because there’s so many stories to tell and I can use my considerable experience and success in helping get those stories told.