Despite the book's bestseller status, Blatty, who produced, andFriedkin, his choice for director, had difficulty casting the film. After turning down, or being turned down by, major stars of the era, they cast Burstyn, a relative unknown, as well as unknowns Blair and Miller (author of a hitplay with no film acting experience); the casting choices were vigorously opposed by studio executives at Warner Bros. Pictures. Principal photography was also difficult. A fire destroyedthe majority of the set, and Blair and Burstyn suffered long-term injuries in on-set accidents. Ultimately production took twice as long as scheduled and cost more than twice the initial budget.
The Exorcist was released in 24 theatres in the United States and Canada in late December 1973. Despite initial mixed critical reviews, audiences flocked to it, waiting in long lines during winter weather and many doing so more than once.Some viewers suffered adverse physical reactions, fainting or vomiting to scenes in which the protagonist undergoes a realistic cerebral angiography and later violently masturbates with a crucifix. Heart attacks and a miscarriagewere reported; a psychiatric journal published a paper on "cinematic neurosis" triggered by the film. Many children were allowed to see the film, leading to charges that the MPAA ratings board had accommodated Warner Bros by giving the film an R-rating insteadof the X-rating they thought it deserved, in order to ensure its commercial success. Several cities attempted to ban it outright or prevent children from attending.
The cultural conversation around the film, which also encompassed its treatment of Catholicism, helped it become the first horror film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, one of ten Academy Awards for which it was nominated,winning for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound. It was the highest-grossing R-rated horror film (unadjusted for inflation) until the 2017 release of It. The Exorcist has had a significant influence on popular culture and has received critical acclaim,with several publications regarding it as one of the greatest horror films ever made. English film critic Mark Kermode named it his "favorite film of all time". In 2010, the Library of Congress selected the film to be preservedin its National Film Registry, citing it as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
"The Exorcist has done for the horror film what 2001 did for science fiction", wrote theCinefantastique reviewer who had described the vomit-covered bathroom, "legitimizing it in the eyes of thousands who previously considered horror movies nothing more than a giggle". In the years following, studios allotted largebudgets to films like The Omen, The Sentinel, Burnt Offerings, Audrey Rose and The Amityville Horror, all of which had similar themes or plot elements and cast established stars, who until then often avoided the genre until their later years.
Upon its December 26, 1973, release, the film received mixed reviews from critics, "ranging from 'classic' to 'claptrap'".
