Duo together again for first time since Exorcist
William Peter Blatty tells Rue Morgue Magazine scribe John Bowen that it appears he’ll be reuniting with ol’ Exorcist chum William Friedkin on a new project, an adaptation of Blatty’s latest novel “Demeter.”
“Dimiter, a supernatural suspense thriller set mostly in Jerusalem, is a novel that’s been out and around since mid-March. Billy Friedkin is eager to direct it as a film, which would be our one and only other teaming since The Exorcist,” said Blatty.
Released by Forge Books earlier this year, “Dimiter” received a fair amount of praise. The publisher’s synopsis can be found below.
In 1973 Albania, Colonel Vlora (aka the Interrogator), the head of a team of torturers, questions the Prisoner, who the reader later learns is Paul Dimiter, an American clandestine agent referred to in some quarters of the world as ‘legendary,’ while in others as ‘the agent from hell.’ (Rumor has it Dimiter poisoned Ho Chi Minh while the Vietnamese leader was visiting Albania shortly before his death in 1969.) Dimiter escapes to Jerusalem, where he encounters a number of engaging characters, including a doctor of neurology, a sharp-tongued nurse, and a grief-stricken Israeli policeman. The complicated plot confounds until the isolated pieces of the psychological puzzle that’s Dimiter match up and fall into place, revealing surprising truths.
Of course, this news arrives just as Warner Bros. releases The Exorcist for the first time on Blu-Ray. Pick up Rue Morgue’s 13th anniversary issue for their retrospective on the film with Blatty’s full interview.
Source: Rue Morgue Magazine
