Release OrderRecommended
0 / 7 watchedRelease order. The two prequels are alternate versions of one story, so pick one of the pair.
Original run
- 1 The Exorcist Friedkin classic. Regan's possession and Merrin's exorcism. Start here.
- 2 Exorcist II: The Heretic A teenage Regan four years later. The least loved entry by far.
- 3 The Exorcist III Blatty directs his Legion novel. Kinderman hunts the Gemini Killer fifteen years later.
Prequel pair
- 4 Exorcist: The Beginning Young Merrin in Africa. Harlin's reshot version, released first.
- 5 Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist Schrader's original version of the same Merrin story. Covers the same events as Beginning.
TV continuation
- 6 The Exorcist Two seasons on Fox, 2016 to 2017. Continues from the 1973 film and ignores the other sequels.
Blumhouse sequel
- 7 The Exorcist: Believer Direct sequel to 1973 with Ellen Burstyn back as Chris MacNeil. Latest released entry.
Chronological Order
0 / 7 watchedStory order. Either prequel version works as the starting point since both tell Merrin's Africa story.
- 1 Exorcist: The Beginning Merrin's first fight with Pazuzu in Africa, Harlin version.
- 2 Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist Schrader's alternate telling of the same Africa story.
- 3 The Exorcist Regan's possession in Georgetown.
- 4 Exorcist II: The Heretic Four years after Regan's exorcism.
- 5 The Exorcist III Fifteen years after the original.
- 6 The Exorcist Decades later, a new possession case with ties to Regan.
- 7 The Exorcist: Believer Fifty years after the original.
About The Exorcist
William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973) follows the possession of Regan MacNeil and remains the anchor of a franchise about the demon Pazuzu and the priests who fight it.
Later sequels, two alternate prequels, a two-season TV series and 2023's Believer scatter across the timeline, so the orders below separate release from story.
Good to know
The Exorcist: Martyrs, directed by Mike Flanagan and starring Scarlett Johansson, is dated March 12, 2027 by Universal after filming wrapped in June 2026.
