'Cursed' Exorcist movie released

A still from the new Exorcist movie

But the prequel used three directors, was totally reshot because it was too tame at first, and final director Renny Harlin was injured by a car on set.

Critics did not get advance screenings, fuelling speculation it will be a flop.

Exorcist: The Beginning was first announced in 2001, with director John Frankenheimer and actor Liam Neeson on board. But Frankenheimer pulled out a month before he died in 2002, with Raging Bull and Taxi Driver screenwriter Paul Schrader taking over.

Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard replaced Neeson in the lead role of Father Merrin--but film studio Morgan Creek did not think the finished movie was scary enough. So it replaced Schrader with Harlin and changed most of the cast, but Skarsgard stayed in his role. Then the whole film was shot again.

During filming, Harlin was hit by a car in Rome and spent the rest of the shoot on crutches with bones in one leg held together by 14 metal pins. Harlin said he took talk of an Exorcist curse seriously. 'It's not very funny, if you think about it,' he said. 'I believe in it.'

Exorcist: The Beginning is the fourth Exorcist movie, with two sequels released in 1977 and 1990.