'The Exorcist: Believer' Wins the Weekend

The Exorcist: Believer sold enough tickets over the weekend to win the box-office race, but its performance fell well short of expectations. That's bad news for its studio and production company. The relatively low-budget horror sequel will probably turn a profit on its production budget, but given that the companies paid an astronomical $400 million for the rights to the classic franchise, Believer's tepid debut looks absolutely terrifying. Read on for details.

Via Variety.

“The Exorcist: Believer,” a reboot in the legacy horror franchise, summoned the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office despite falling short of expectations.

The R-rated film, from Universal and Blumhouse, collected $27.2 million from 3,663 North American venues over the weekend, below estimates that suggested a debut closer to $35 million. These ticket sales fall somewhere in between recent horror releases, like “Saw X” ($18.3 million) and “The Nun 2” ($32.6 million).

“Those titles have been legging out better than the genre normally provides,” says Universal’s president of domestic distribution Jim Orr. “Hopefully we will see that as well.”

“Believer” also opened at the international box office with $17.8 million for a global start of $45.1 million. Since the sixth “Exorcist” movie cost only $30 million, it’s well-positioned in its theatrical run. But reviews (23% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience scores (“C” CinemaScore) were terrible, so the studio may need to reconsider its strategy before the next installment opens in 2025. Universal spent a staggering $400 million in 2021 to buy the rights to the terrifying property, with plans to at least develop a trilogy over the next few years. So, it needs moviegoers to feel invested in the series beyond this installment to justify that massive deal.

David Gordon Green, who revived Universal and Blumhouse’s “Halloween” franchise with Jamie Lee Curtis, directed “The Exorcist: Believer,” which takes place 50 years after the original 1973 classic and brings back Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil, a mother who has been forever changed by the paranormal event that plagued her daughter. The new trilogy picks up as two girls escape into the woods, unleashing a horrific chain of events that aren’t dissimilar to those that happened to MacNeil’s child all those decades ago.

“This is a good opening for a horror sequel that’s coming 19 years after the last ‘Exorcist’ and 50 years after the original in 1973,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. But, he points out that “critics reviews are poor, and audience scores are lukewarm. Creatively, the story has little momentum right now.”

“Believer” was originally set to open next Friday the 13th, but the studio moved up its release date to avoid Taylor Swift’s much-hyped Eras Tour concert film. It was this weekend’s only new nationwide release, so “The Exorcist” didn’t have any trouble in taking the No. 1 spot as several holdovers rounded out the top five.

Get the rest of the story at Variety.