As part of the year-long centennial celebration for the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros. Studio, the iconic supernatural film The Exorcist from Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin (The French Connection) is now available for purchase on 4K Ultra HD Disc.
The Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs include both the 1973 theatrical version of the film and the 2000 Extended Director’s Cut of the film which features eleven additional minutes of footage not seen in theaters.
The Exorcist tells the now-famous story of a girl's demonic possession, and a gripping fight between good and evil. Linda Blair, in a breakout role, plays Regan, a young girl who starts to exhibit strange, arcane behavior. Her mother (Burstyn) calls upon a priest, Father Karras (Miller), to investigate. But Karras, who has a spiritual crisis of his own, is suddenly confronted with the unimaginable evil of Regan's possession. Father Lankester Merrin (Von Sydow), an archeologist-priest, is called to help, and a horrific battle for her soul begins.
Directed by Friedkin from a screenplay by Academy Award winner William Peter Blatty, the film is based on Blatty’s 1971 novel of the same name. The Exorcist stars Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore), Academy Award nominee Max von Sydow (Pelle the Conqueror, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), Academy Award nominee Lee J. Cobb (On the Waterfront, The Brothers Karamazov), Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowan, Academy Award nominee Jason Miller, and Academy Award nominee Linda Blair.
Widely regarded as a supernatural masterpiece, the film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director as well as acting nominations for Burstyn, Miller and Blair. The film won two Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Blatty.
In 2010, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
