Экзорцист II: Өндірістің қиындықтары мен өзгерістері

1977 film by John Boorman

Playwright William Goodhart was commissioned to write the screenplay, titled The Heretic; he based it around the theories of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (the Jesuit paleontologist/archaeologist who had inspired the character of Father Merrin in Blatty's novel The Exorcist). Goodhart's screenplay took a more metaphysical and intellectual approach compared with the original film. Here, the battle between good and evil would center on human consciousness—with the specific idea that, within the framework of Catholic theology, human consciousnesses could be brought together as one through technology, although this would also result in conflict between those who sought good and evil. Sam O'Steen initially agreed to direct the film, but never officially attached himself to the production. He was replaced with Richard Burton signing on for the role. The role of Dr. Gene Tuskin was originally written for a man, with Chris Sarandon and George Segal both considered. When the sex of the character was changed, both Ann Margret and Jane Fonda were under consideration. Louise Fletcher, who had just won the Academy Award for Best Actress for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), accepted the part.

Principal photography began at Burbank Studios on May 24, 1976, with a budget of $11 million (the film ultimately cost $14 million to make). Although Boorman wanted to film the majority of the film on location (including Ethiopia and The Vatican), many of his plans proved to be impossible, resulting in key exterior scenes having to be filmed at the Warner Bros. backlot. Even the MacNeil house in Georgetown had to be replicated in the studio because the filmmakers were refused permission to film at the original house. The filmmakers also had to replicate the infamous "Hitchcock Steps" adjacent to the MacNeil house, as they were refused permission by Washington city officials to shoot scenes by the real steps. There were also two weeks of filming in the New York metropolitan area. Scenes were also filmed at Pennsylvania Station in Newark, New Jersey. Boorman was unhappy with Goodhart's script and asked Goodhart to do a rewrite incorporating ideas from Rospo Pallenberg. Goodhart refused, and so the script was subsequently rewritten by Pallenberg and Boorman. Goodhart's script was being constantly rewritten as the film was shooting, with the filmmakers uncertain as to how the story should end. Linda Blair recalled: "It was a really good script at first. Then after everybody signed on they rewrote it five times and it ended up nothing like the same movie". Exorcist II was beset by numerous problems during production. Boorman contracted a case of San Joaquin Valley Fever (a respiratory fungal infection), which canceled production for over a month (a costly delay). Other problems included footage being oversaturated and necessitating reshoots; the rapid deaths of locusts imported from England for the film's climactic scenes (2500 locusts were shipped in and died at a rate of 100 a day); original film editor John Merritt quitting the production (he was replaced by Tom Priestley), and stars Kitty Winn and Louise Fletcher both suffering from gall bladder infections. Blair said in one interview that Pallenberg directed a lot of the film as well as did rewrites. Pallenberg was credited as the second unit director and a "creative associate".

The Heretic was Warner Bros.'s largest day and date launch, opening in 725 theatres in the United States and Canada and set an opening weekend record for the studio. with $6.7 million, The film eventually grossed $30,749,142 in the United States, turning a profit but still disappointing in comparison to the original film's gross.

Exorcist II: The Heretic was originally released on VHS in the United States. The Laserdisc was exclusively released in Japan. A VHS reissue was released in the US on December 4, 1992 by Warner Home Video. It was first released on DVD format on August 6, 2002, in Snapcase packaging, while a second DVD was made available in standard packaging on November 3, 2009. Additionally, the film is available as part of "The Complete Anthology" set, which features all five films of the franchise, and was released on DVD on October 10, 2006. The film was released on Blu ray for the first time in both an individual set and as part of the Blu ray release of "The Complete Anthology" on September 23, 2014. On September 25, 2018, Scream Factory, a subsidiary of Shout Factory, released Exorcist II: The Heretic on Blu ray in a newly commissioned two disc "Collector's Edition". The set includes the theatrical cut, a shorter alternative version of the film, new interviews with Linda Blair and editor Tom Priestly, as well as commentary tracks from director John Boorman and project consultant Scott Bosco.