SUBMITTED BY Timbo

October 27, 2003 — The replacement of director Paul Schrader by Renny Harlin is only the latest in a series of problems for the latest Exorcist movie, leading some of the more excitable in Hollywood to declare the movie "cursed".

The film was initially to star Liam Neeson as the young incarnation of The Exorcist's Satan-battling priest Father Merrin (played in the 1973 original by Max von Sydow), with John Frankenheimer directing.

But Frankenheimer died last year, and Neeson subsequently dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Stellan Skarsgard. Schrader, known more for his screenplays (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) than directorial work (Cat People, Affliction and Auto Focus), took over.

But shortly after Schrader wrapped shooting in Rome and Morocco and assembled a rough cut of the film, Morgan Creek bounced him from the project, citing "creative differences." In layman speak, that translates too "not enough vomit and guts."

"The whole movie is done," one production source explained to the New York Post in August. "When Paul went to turn it in, Morgan Creek refused to give him his postproduction money because they hated it. Paul had given them what was in the script--a creepy psychological thriller."

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