Lionsgate COTTONs to THE LAST EXORCISM

By Michael Gingold

Variety reports that Lionsgate has picked up U.S. distribution rights to THE LAST EXORCISM, the Eli Roth-produced deviltry drama previously titled COTTON. While a release date has yet to be set, the acquisition deal includes a $16-million prints and advertising commitment.

Directed by Daniel Stamm from a script by Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland, the movie is a vérité-style chiller focusing on the Rev. Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian), who has long staged phony exorcisms and agrees to let a documentary crew shoot his final ritual—involving a girl who proves to be truly possessed by the devil. The deal returns Roth to the company that released his debut feature CABIN FEVER, and Lionsgate’s Jason Constantine tells the trade, “It’s always great to work with our friend Eli, who has played a key role in establishing Lionsgate in the vanguard of the horror genre. THE LAST EXORCISM feels as close to a real exorcism as anyone would ever want to get—audiences are going to find this movie scary as, well, hell.” Last week, as we reported here, the movie was set to premiere at Austin, TX’s South by Southwest Film Festival, but the ’gate may decide to debut it later once it settles on a nationwide opening day.

The producers also include Eric Newman, Marc Abraham and Tom Bliss, and the Strike Entertainment production was financed by StudioCanal, the French outfit that’s also teaming with Roth to back THE OTHER WOMAN, a psychological chiller that will be directed by Botko and Gurland from their screenplay. This one’s about a dumped mistress who gets revenge on her ex-boyfriend via a movie, and Roth says it will explore “the worst nightmares of those who have had extramarital affairs and the sickest fantasies of those who have been scorned.”