Blumhouse, Universal and Peacock’s big continuation of The Exorcist has added Primetime Emmy winner Ann Dowd to the cast who’ll star opposite already announced Leslie Odom Jr. and Ellen Burstyn who is reprising her role as Chris MacNeil from the original 1973 movie.
It was announced a year ago that Universal and Peacock closed a $400M deal to the global rights to the Exorcist franchise. The new film is being directed by David Gordon Green who is behind Blumhouse/Miramax and Uni’s latest trio of Halloween movies; two of which have grossed over $387M WW with Halloween Ends set for release on Oct. 14.
Dowd and Gordon Green previously teamed on his 2015 satire, Our Brand Is Crisis. Gordon Green also executive produced Dowd’s 2012 breakout film, Compliance, after spotting the actress in the Off Broadway play Blood From A Stone. He was the one who suggested her for the role of Sandra in Compliance, a fast food manager duped into detaining an employee for stealing.
Dowd is known for her portrayal of Aunt Lydia on Hulu and MGM’s The Handmaid’s Tale which notched her a 2017 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She was also nominated for an Emmy in 2018 and 2021. Dowd also won a 2018 Broadcast Film Critics Association (Critics Choice) award for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and was nominated for a 2018 Golden Globe for Supporting Actress in a Television Series or Made for TV Movie.
Her feature credits include last year’s Mass, about the aftermath of a violent tragedy that affects the lives of two couples in different ways.
Dowd won the National Board of Review Best Supporting Actress award for Compliance. Dowd’s other notable credits include the HBO series The Leftovers, Ari Aster’s Hereditary, Jonathan Demme’s The Manchurian Candidate and Philadelphia.
The actress is repped by Principal Entertainment and Innovative Artists
The original 1973 film, The Exorcist has grossed over $441 million to date worldwide, making it the highest domestic grossing horror film ever. The picture was also nominated for 10 Academy-Awards, including one for Burstyn, who was nominated for Best Actress. The film also nabbed the honor of being the first horror film ever nominated for Best Picture.
Scott Teems (Halloween Kills, The Quarry), Danny McBride (Halloween Kills, Halloween) and Green teamed up for the story being penned by Peter Sattler (Broken Diamonds) and Green. Jason Blum will produce on behalf of Blumhouse. David Robinson and James Robinson will produce for Morgan Creek. David Gordon Green, Danny McBride and Couper Samuelson will executive produce. Ryan Turek is overseeing the project for Blumhouse.
