Almost three decades after the release of the theatrical version of The Exorcist III (1990) that got mixed reviews, its writer and director, and author of the 1971 novel, The Exorcist, and its 1983 sequel, Legion, William Peter Blatty, announced that he was working on his favourite Director's Cut version. Even though most of the deleted original footage was presumed lost, unexpectedly, VHS tapes containing the supposedly lost raw footage have been discovered. Blatty's Director's Cut, Legion, was released in October 2016, adding new scenes and inserts taken from the recovered VHS, an alternative opening scene, and a different exorcism ending to the Theatrical Cut, among many other differences. The result is considered to be closer to the original screenplay, encompassing Blatty's original vision.