The 89-year-old actress unveils that she has 'turned down' many versions of 'The Exorcist 2', which is helmed by 'Halloween Kills' director David Gordon Green and is slated to be released in 2023.
- Aug 29, 2022
AceShowbiz - Ellen Burstyn proves that she doesn't want to work only for money. The 89-year-old actress only signed onto the new "The Exorcist" movie after film bosses agreed to set up a scholarship program for young actors as part of her pay deal.
Ellen appeared in the original 1973 film playing the mother of Linda Blair's possessed young character Regan and she's now involved in plans to revisit the scary movie in a new trilogy helmed by "Halloween Kills" director David Gordon Green. In a new interview, Ellen revealed she was reluctant to sign up at first until she got an offer she couldn't refuse.
She told The Hollywood Reporter, "I've turned down many versions of 'The Exorcist 2'. I've said no every time. This time they offered me a whole bunch of money and I still said no. And then they surprised me and they came back and said, 'We doubled the offer.' I said, 'OK, let me think about this.' "
Ellen admits she was worried about the deal and decided to ask for something good to come out of it besides a bumper payday. She went on, "I thought, 'That's a lot of money. Let me think about it.' The next thought that came to mind was: 'I feel like the devil is asking my price.' And the next thought that came to mind was, 'My price is a scholarship program for talented students at our master's degree program at Pace University. That's my price.' So I then went back and upped their [offer] up and ended up getting what I want. And I've got a scholarship program for young actors."
The new movie was initially billed as a reboot but it has since been revealed as a sequel to the original film and s slated for release in 2023. There are two sequels already in development.
