Trivia for
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005) More at IMDbPro »

• John Frankenheimer voluntarily stepped down from directing the Exorcist prequel (then referred to as "Exorcist: Dominion") one month before his death in July 2002. Paul Schrader took on this project later in 2002.
  
  
• Stellan Skarsgård is playing a younger version of Max von Sydow's character from The Exorcist (1973). Skarsgård is nearly a decade older than von Sydow was during the filming of the original movie.
  
  
• Liam Neeson was initially cast as Father Merrin.
  
  
• Michael Kamen had originally been selected to compose the score. Schrader replaced him with Christopher Young shortly before the "exec screening" that had him replaced as director. For the final theatrical release, Angelo Badalamenti and Trevor Rabin are the credited composers.
  
  
• Paul Schrader was originally hired as director of Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), but Morgan Creek ultimately rejected his "psychological thriller" approach, saying it was "commercially unmarketable". The decision was made to extensively rewrite and re-shoot the script, re-cast several roles, add new characters and give the director's chair to Renny Harlin. Schrader's version was originally supposed to be released direct to video, as a bonus feature on the DVD release of Harlin's version. However, in the wake of Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)'s box office failure, Morgan Creek abandoned this idea, allowing Schrader to present his version at several film festivals, as well as giving it a small scale theatrical release in several countries under a new title (Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist). Schrader's version also received support from William Peter Blatty, who said to The Houston Chronicle that Schrader's version is "a handsome, classy, elegant piece of work."
  
  
• On the day of audition, Gabriel Mann went to meet director Paul Schrader dressed as a priest and carrying a DVD copy of The Exorcist (1973). He immediately got the role.
  
  
• Paul Schrader's son Sam suggested Dog Fashion Disco do the score for the ending. The song that they wrote, "March of Satan", is based in part on Sleepytime Gorilla Museum's "A Hymn to the Morning Star."
  
  
• Father Francis' line "Satan is real!" is a reference to The Louvin Brothers' album and song of the same name.
  
  
• Paul Schrader was given no money for publicity or music production after Morgan Creek decided to release his version. He was also only given $35,000 for visual effects and post-production (which explains the shoddy computer graphics and inconsistent audio quality). Additionally, Morgan Creek chose the release date of May 20th, the weekend Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) came out.
  
  
• Average Shot Length = ~5.9 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~6.4 seconds.
  
  
• Mary Beth Hurt (Paul Schrader's wife) does the uncredited voice of Cheche.
  
  
• Billy Crawford was called for an audition when a casting staff saw the cover of his album "Ride" where he was portrayed in demonic fashion, wearing a hood with eyes resembling the demon.
  
  

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