Fox’s The Exorcist Could Span “Six Or Seven Seasons”

The Exorcist, Fox’s frightening movie-to-TV anthology series about the fragile barrier between this life and the next, really hit the ground running last September with a 10-part story involving one family’s case of demonic possession.

Loosely based on William Peter Blatty’s novel – itself a sequel to the 1973 classic of the same name – The Exorcist is quietly gearing up for its second season on the airwaves, and in the aftermath of its SDCC showcase, we couldn’t be more excited. Having recruited John Cho, Alfonso Herrera, Ben Daniels and Deadpool co-star Brianna Hildebrand, we’ve learned that Fox’s leading creatives have looked to Japanese horror for inspiration when crafting the look and feel of The Exorcist‘s sophomore run.

In fact, when discussing the potential future of their horror hit with Screen Rant, Jeremy Slater and Sean Crouch – series creator and co-executive producer, respectively – revealed that The Exorcist could span “six or seven seasons” by adhering to the anthology format. That is, each new season would center on a different story.

You can’t tell a seven-year story about one family that just keeps getting possessed over and over again without the audience starting to hate you for putting one family through so much shit. So the idea is every year we’ll have a different case, we’ll have a different sort of possessed individual and different family, and but it’s Marcus and Thomas — our priests, our recurring characters — that you’re gonna follow and have that investment with.

Crouch then added that all involved are hopeful for six seasons and a movie (a nod to Community‘s original goal), before touching base on what role the Vatican has to play in the show’s second season.

“Six seasons and a movie, that’s our aim [laughs]. And then we go into the Vatican this season and really get into that story with Father Bennett and hopefully that’s our connective tissue in the mythology of the show. It could go for six or seven seasons and hopefully have a very satisfying ending.”

Slater added: “We’ve sort of plotted it out very generally, just in case, so we know that we have an end point in mind for this, and we will answer every question at some point along the way. That’s really important to us.”

The Exorcist will conjure up a new season of supernatural thrills and spills on Friday, September 29th, at 9:00-10:00 pm ET/PT. It faces a tall order if it really is to emulate the success of its inaugural instalment, but with Slater and Co. plotting a six-to-seven season arc, Fox’s small-screen horror drama could be on our screens for years to come.