Hi-Def Pea Soup – THE EXORCIST hits Blu-Ray in October

I held off on posting this yesterday because I really wanted to see if I could get an official release date.  It was posted today via DVDActive.

Warner Home Video has announced a 2-disc Blu-ray release of The Exorcist for October 5th. Newly remastered in 1080p from the original camera negative, the Blu-ray includes both the remastered Extended Director’s Cut  as well as the remastered theatrical version of the film. Extras will include a commentary by William Friedkin, a director introduction to the theatrical cut, featurettes (“Raising Hell: Filming the Exorcist”, “The Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now”, “Faces of Evil: The Different Versions of The Exorcist”), interviews, Sketches & Storyboards, trailers and TV spots from the 1973 and 2000 versions, and more. The Blu-ray release will also be packaged with a personal letter written by Friedkin inside a 40-page Blu-ray Digibook featuring striking photos, cast bios, revealing production notes and more. Stay tuned for the official package artwork.

Also, Blu-ray.com posted the specs and artwork.  Not sure why DVDActive says “Stay tuned for the official package artwork” when it looks like Blu-Ray.com got it.

Disc contents are as follows:

Disc 1: – Extended Director’s Cut (2000) plus Special Features

• Commentary by William Friedkin
• Raising Hell: Filming the Exorcist – set footage produced and photographed by Owen Roizman, camera and makeup tests, and interviews with director William Friedkin, actress Linda Blair, author/screenwriter/producer William Peter Blatty and Owen Roizman (new; Blu-ray exclusive)
• The Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now – Featuring a tour of the iconic locations where the film was shot (new; Blu-ray exclusive)
• Faces of Evil: The Different Versions of The Exorcist – with director William Friedkin and author/screenwriter/producer William Peter Blatty discussing the different versions of the film and featuring outtakes from the film (new; Blu-ray exclusive)
• Trailers, TV spots & radio spots from the film’s 2000 release

Disc 2 – Theatrical Cut (1973) plus Special Features

• Introduction by William Friedkin
• Commentaries:
  • William Friedkin
  • William Peter Blatty with Special Sound Effects Tests
• The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist [1998 BBC documentary]
• Additional interviews with William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty:
  • The Original Cut
  • Stairway to Heaven
  • The Final Reckoning
• Original ending
• Sketches & storyboards
• Trailers & TV spots from the 1973 version

Regarding the two versions, director William Friedkin says, “After my final cut of the original The Exorcist, I took out 12 more minutes before we actually released it in theatres. Years later, Bill Blatty asked if I’d consider reviewing some of that rejected footage (which he always felt should have remained) with an eye towards putting it into a new version. Bill gave me the best piece of material I’ve ever received and because of that and because the film had such a major reputation over some 25 years, I agreed to revisit all these scenes. When I saw them, I came to realize that Bill was, in fact, right. With technical advances, scenes that didn’t work then could now be fixed with CGI and there were others that I thought strengthened the spiritual aspect of the film. Warner agreed and released a whole new theatrical print in 2000 which we called The Exorcist: The Version You’ve Never Seen. And I now agree with Blatty that this is the best and most complete version.”

I just hope someday that the general public gets to see EXORCIST III the way it was intended or in a special edition as I think that is the better film of this trilogy.