Though Taylor Swift‘s The Eras Tour is currently decimating all potential competition at the box office, The Exorcist: Believer is proving to be more resilient than many predicted after its hellish critical reception.
While some have come out in defence of Believer, the majority of critics have read the horror movie its last rites (it sits at an abysmal 22% on Rotten Tomatoes), but David Gordon Green's legacy sequel to William Friedkin's horror classic has still managed to perform pretty well at the box office all things considered.
Despite audience numbers dipping considerably since its theatrical release a couple of weeks ago, Green's film has now taken in $107 million worldwide.
Believer has a reported budget of just $30 million (excluding marketing costs), so this is a pretty solid result for Blumhouse and Universal Pictures. Yes, they did pay $400 million for the rights, but that price tag was an all-in IP purchase, which includes at least two more sequels, the Halloween Horror Nights theme park ride, and a rumored TV spin-off.
The Exorcist: Deceiver is set for release in 2025, but will the second movie even see the light of day? A recent report indicated that the studio still intends to move forward with the follow-ups, but there will be a creative "course change," and it's looking more and more likely that Green will not return to the director's chair.
It also remains to be seen if Ellen Burstyn will reprise the role of Chris MacNeil after the character's shockingly disrespectful treatment in Believer.
Have you been to see The Exorcist: Believer yet, or did the reviews put you off? Drop us a comment down below.
"Exactly 50 years ago this fall, the most terrifying horror film in history landed on screens, shocking audiences around the world. Now, on Friday, October 13, a new chapter begins. From Blumhouse and director David Gordon Green, who shattered the status quo with their resurrection of the Halloween franchise, comes The Exorcist: Believer.
Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding (Tony winner and Oscar nominee Leslie Odom, Jr.; One Night in Miami, Hamilton) has raised their daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett, Good Girls) on his own. But when Angela and her friend Katherine (newcomer Olivia Marcum), disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil."
The Exorcist: Believer also stars Ann Dowd as Victor and Angela’s neighbor, and Jennifer Nettles and Norbert Leo Butz as the parents of Katherine, Angela’s friend.
The movie is now in theaters, and Blumhouse has already announced a Digital release date of October 24. The Exorcist: Deceiver is currently set to arrive on April 18, 2025.