FOX TV Stages Fake Exorcisms at Comic-Con to Promote TV Show: "The Exorcism Was Great, Are You Kidding Me?"

It's fun and probably harmless to dress up as science-fiction, fantasy or comic book characters and goof around.

For those of you who are "out of it," cosplay means doing just that.

But I don't think staging fake exorcisms is a wise idea.

God will not be mocked.

And I'm sure that the devil is quite happy for you to believe that the whole thing is just a silly joke.

I wonder what William P. Blatty thinks of it.

From The Hollywood Reporter: 

Comic-Con: Fox Holding "Surprise" Exorcisms for 'The Exorcist' 

The network is staging exorcisms around Comic-Con to promote 'The Exorcist' reboot, and THR was on hand for the first one. 

If you're on the ground at Comic-Con, keep an eye out for random exorcisms in addition to all the creative cosplay. 

Fox is staging "surprise" exorcisms in downtown San Diego to promote the network's upcoming reboot of The Exorcist. The Hollywood Reporter witnessed the first exorcism of the weekend outside of the Hard Rock hotel across from the Convention Center on Friday morning. 

When the exorcism began, no one near the commotion really knew what was happening. A space was cleared on the sidewalk, and two seemingly random Con attendees, a guy and a girl, walked through it. The guy collapsed onto the ground out of nowhere, and he puked while his body was twitching and contorting in alarming ways. His friend freaked out and didn't know what to do. Then, two priests stepped in to save the “possessed” guy in the staged flash exorcism. While it was shocking at first, by the end of the stunt everyone knew it was all for fun and the "possessed" person had been in on the ruse from the very start. 

These flash exorcisms will be happening multiple times a day on Friday and Saturday, with different performers for each one. Each of the "possessed" actors are circus performers, so it's truly a sight to see them contorting their bodies . . .

"I thought it was great," executive produder Jeremy Slater told THR after the stunt . . . 

When Slater heard that Fox was going to stage live exorcisms at Comic-Con to promote his new series, he "couldn't believe it." 

"This exorcism was great, are you kidding me?" Slater said with a laugh. "I've asked for schedules for the next several day so I can stalk all of them. We were looking for new ways to surprise Comic-Con fans and show them something new, and I think contortionists getting exorcised on the streets of San Diego is certainly something I've never seen before at Comic-Con in the past 12 years. Doing something for the first time is awesome." 

The Exorcist is described as a modern reinvention of the popular horror film. 

The drama pilot is inspired by William Blatty’s 1971 book, and the serialized psychological thriller follows two men (Alfonso Herrera and Ben Daniels) tackling one family’s case of horrifying demonic possession and confronting the face of true evil.