in 1973. Originally it had been scheduled for an earlier release, but that was postponed due to postproduction delays. Friedkin was, even years later, angry about this choice of release date, believing that it hurt the film at the box office. He had wanted a release before the holiday, or on it, as is more common at the time of year; it has been speculated that Warners wanted to avoid any controversy that might have come from releasing a film about demonic possession before a major religious holiday. Friedkin supposedly had seen what Paramount had done to make The Godfather, which had had similar issues, a runaway success a year and a half before and had wanted Warners to emulate it with a more preferable release date, such as March, as that film had had. The post-holiday release served to help The Exorcist sell tickets, as most moviegoers had all or most of the week off to go see it. It is the second all-time highest-grossing Christmas week release after 1997's Titanic. It has also outgrossed The Godfather. Ultimately it played on screens for 105 weeks, or just over two years. In 1979, the film was re-released theatrically and was converted to 70mm, with its original 1.75:1 aspect ratio expanded to 2.20:1 to use the extra screen width. A longer cut labeled "The Version You've Never Seen" (later re-labeled "Extended Director's Cut") was released theatrically in 2000, with additions and changes. Home media Special edition 25th anniversary VHS and DVD release A limited 50,000-copy special edition box set was released in 1998 for the film's 25th anniversary on both VHS and DVD. It includes the original ending as a special feature. Blatty was pleased that the scene was restored. The night before the scene was shot, he and Friedkin had worked very hard on blocking it, to make sure it would be clear to the audience that the film ended on an upbeat moment. "My theory over the years has been that at that point in the movie, most of the audience is a little out of it" he said two years later. "They're really not seeing what's happening there, and, of course, the film lost its original ending and instead ended with Father Dyer looking down the steps ... [which] gives an audience an emotional cue about how they're supposed to feel." Overall, he said, the 25th anniversary cut