Geena Davis to star in Fox's 'The Exorcist' reboot

Geena Davis is returning to the small screen.

The actress, fresh off a multiple-episode arc on ABC's Grey's Anatomy last season, has booked a starring role in Fox's reboot of The Exorcist.

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Described as a modern reinvention, the Fox drama pilot is inspired by William Blatty's 1971 book. The potential series is a propulsive, serialized psychological thriller following two very different men (Alfonso Herreraand Ben Daniels) tackling one family's case of horrifying demonic possession, and confronting the face of true evil.

Davis will play Angela Rance, a naturally beautiful, regal and proud woman who is weighed down by stress, she does everything she can to stay positive and keep her faith even though her family is currently struggling. She can't help but think, however, if perhaps her nightmares about a demon are a sign of what's wrong.

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The casting marks Davis' return to series regular broadcast television following her Golden Globe winning role as the president in ABC's Commander in Chief. She won a supporting actress Oscar for The Accidental Tourist and was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe for her co-starring turn in Thelma and Louise. She won a Globe for A League of Their Own and counts Tootside, The Fly, Beetlejuice, The Long Kiss Goodnight andStuart Little among her credits.

Off-screen, Davis is the funder and chair of nonprofit Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which calls on TV and film creators to increase the percentages of female characters and reduce gender stereotyping in media targeting children 11 and under. She's repped by CAA and Hansen Jacobson.

The Exorcist is written by Jeremy Slater (Fantastic Four), who exec produces the 20th Century Fox/Morgan Creek Productions entry alongside James Robinson, David Robinson, Barbara Wall and Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), the latter of whom will direct the pilot. Brianne Howey, Hannah Kasulka, Kurt Egyiawan co-star.

Keep up with all the latest pickups, castings and eventual series orders with THR's handy guide to pilot season.