Almost three decades after the theatrical release of The Exorcist III (1990), William Peter Blatty--the writer, director, and author of the 1971 novel, The Exorcist, and its 1983 sequel, Legion--announced that he was working on a Director's Cut version. With most of the deleted original footage presumed lost, Blatty's Legion was released in October 2016. Aside from adding new scenes and inserts from recovered VHS tapes, the theatrical cut has an alternative opening scene and a different exorcism ending. Blatty's vision is better reflected in the result, which is closer to the original screenplay.