I would have loved to have seen the cut Schrader turned in. I love Caleb Carr's writing and I think Schrader is a great director, too. If the article is correct and noone at the studio had read the script then that's their own damn fault, but seeing as how it's hollywood I am not surprised by this reaction. I believe that unless it was a carbon-copy of the original then the studio would hate it, and audiences would probably hate it too. We probably will see the movie at some point but not in the version that Schrader would have intended.

Pity, isn't it? I too am a huge Schrader fan. Hollywood f's up again.

This sounds like ********... they mention a non-existant trailer...have no reputable sources.... smells like a steaming pile of BS to me....

MATT

This is kinda like hiring Ang Lee to make the Hulk. You get what you paid for.

Unbelievable! Paul Schrader fired from "Exorcist: The Beginning"
 

Wanted to see this film. Now, I hope it tanks. I truly hate Hollywood.


From IMDB:

Schrader Fired from 'Exorcist IV'


Writer-director Paul Schrader (Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Auto Focus) has been fired from Exorcist IV: The Beginning after turning in a completed film, when producers concluded that the film did not contain enough violence, the New York Post's "Page Six" column reported today (Monday). Producers Morgan Creek "wanted more gore," a source told the column, "They think that will sell. There were huge fights between Paul, who is more artistic, and the company, and earlier this week Paul was fired. They are planning on hiring a new director to reshoot some scenes."

If this is true, then I sincerely hope that Morgan Creek loses a fortune on this - for some reason, I was under the impression that Morgan Creek has some intelligence going for them, but that's obviously not the case.

The posters in this forum must be delighted. Whenever a film gets a PG-13 they go nuts because that means it doesn't have enough gore.

I have no interest whatsoever in this film now. Guaranteed it will turn out to be a standard hollywood horror movie now.

HAHA, hopefully they'll go back and re-shoot this. What's a horror film without gore? Like Die Hard without action. I'm not much of a Paul Schrader fan. After reading an interview with him awhile back he sounds like a prick. So I'm siding with the studio on this one.

re-post

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...light=Exorcist

Not a repost. More of an update. The first thread talked about Schrader turning in a film they weren't happy with. Had nothing to do about him being fired. Something I don't think anyone was expecting.

You beat me to the punch.

Lame - I wonder what will happen with this now.

What will happen with it now? It won't get my viewing. I don't think....unless reviews are great.

Schrader is a genius....Affliction. Enough said.

I wonder which sequel will be worse?


<b>EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC</b> whose preview screening was so terrible, director John Boorman pulled the film and re-edited the film, but to little effect


or

<b>EXORCIST IV: THE BEGINNING</b>

The Sixth Sense, The Others, The Ring?

Too true....
Look at such losers as Universal's Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, Creature From The Black Lagoon, 1922's Nostferatu, Freaks, Phantom of the Opera, The Thing From Another World, Bride of Frankenstein, Silence of the Lambs (very low in gore IMHO)....

etc etc ad infinitum.

Oh, and of course IMDB's #1 rated horror film of all time -- "Psycho," which left MUCH more to the imagination than gore (watch the shower scene in slow-mo if you don't believe it).

I figured this was comin'. There had been reports all around the 'net that Morgan's Creek wasn't happy with the movie. From what I remember, they bought the script without even goin' over it, due to the success of the re-release of 'The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen' . After the movie was completed and turned in, they realized there was no head-spinning and other things that made the original so popular and now they are backtracking, trying to figure out what to do with the picture... I'll find the URL to some of this stuff. It was on some popular horror movie based boards last week.

The gore in The Excorcist was secondary to the total mind screw of someone being possessed by a demonic entity.

Watching Linda Blair come down the stairs like a spider was far more frightening than watching her vomit pea soup.

http://www.cool-sf.co.uk/images/Spiderwalkwhole.jpg

Also, the article doesn't state that it's without gore, it just says Morgan Creek "wanted more gore", which implies there is some already.

Yet again hollywood having no faith in films that rely on suspense and intelligence over stupidity and cheap thrills.

I am a big fan of paul's films. They aren't genre films per se, so I can understand why a studio would be upset over his version of a genre film. Kind of like paul's Cat People. Not a lot of action or horror. More dialogue and introspection. I can't imagine his version being very exciting or having much gore.

But... they should have more faith in their audience, and stop playing up to all the teenagers.

Christ.

Look what we are dealing with here...
Moragan Creek productions.

Easily one of the worst production companies...


Morgan Creek's Production Output:

3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)
American Outlaws (2001)
Angel Eyes (2001)
Art of War, The (2000/I)
Bad Moon (1996)
Battlefield Earth
Big Bully (1996)
Chasers (1994)
Chill Factor (1999)
Coupe de Ville (1990)
Crush, The (1993)
Diabolique (1996)
Enemies: A Love Story (1989)
Exorcist III, The (1990)
Freejack (1992)
Get Carter (2000)
Heist (2001/I)
I'll Be There (2003)
Imaginary Crimes (1994)
In Crowd, The (2000)
Incognito (1997)
Juwanna Mann (2002)
King and I, The (1999)
Last of the Mohicans, The (1992)
Lazarus Child, The (2004)
Major League (1989)
Major League II
Major League: Back to the Minors (1998)
Nightbreed (1990)
Pacific Heights (1990)
Pledge, The (2001)
Renegades (1989)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
Silent Fall (1994)
Skin Deep (1989)
Soldier (1998)
Stay Tuned (1992)
Trial by Jury (1994)
True Romance (1993)
Two if by Sea (1996)
White Sands (1992)
Whole Nine Yards, The (2000)
Wild America (1997)
Wrongfully Accused (1998)
Young Guns (1988)
Young Guns II (1990)
...aka Young Guns II: Blaze of Glory (1990) (UK)

That's a lot of crap in there.

I heard the head of Morgan Creek (who may no longer be in charge) brag about never ever giving a director final cut. He bragged that he gave Paul Mazursky a "collaborative final cut" and that was as far as he was willing to go. Schrader is a weird guy. Pairing him with these clowns was a bad idea from the start.

Two sides to every story. Here is what writer Caleb Carr had to say: source: Creature Corner

Interesting. The truth probably lies somewhere in between those two accounts.

As a writer, particularly when teamed with Scorsese, Schrader is tops:

As a director, meh:

Wow. Those are pretty scathing remarks from Carr. I'm a huge Schrader fan and now i just don't know what to think. I do know that I would never side with the studio when it comes to 'artistic integrity' or 'vision', considering the pap oooozing out of Hollywood these days (for the most part). This project, which I had high hopes for, is perhaps becoming the' train wreck' some people suggested it would. Too bad, there sure is a lot of talent involved.
I still want to see Schrader's cut .