Olivia O’Neill as Katherine in The Exorcist: Believer.
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Universal found itself in purgatory over the October 6-8 weekend with the release of The Exorcist: Believer, intended to be the first trilogy reboot of the iconic horror title.
While Believer performed solidly at the box office and recouped production costs, the title sparked harsh criticism from reviewers and fans and threw the franchise’s creative plan into disarray.
The Blumhouse-produced Believer is the first offspring from the studio’s purchase of the rights to the legendary horror franchise in 2021. The theatrical rights for three films (where Universal beat out the competition) came with the heavenly price of 400 million US dollars, but also included the streaming rights of the films for “Peacock” and expansions for theme parks such as “Exorcist: Believer Maze” in this month’s Universal Halloween Horror Nights. (Be careful, that’s a demonic film critic!) So it’s not like every film has to gross at least $133 million on its own.
According to sources, the deal made sense for the studio as Blumhouse and Halloween director David Gordon Green would be reuniting for another iconic franchise. Still, producer Jason Blum called Believer “the riskiest film I’ve ever made” due to its cost. The new film sees Ellen Burstyn return as a co-star in an Exorcist film for the first time since William Friedkin’s 1973 original.
Believer planned a reduction of $30 million to $35 million, but that number fell to $26.5 million when the final numbers were crunched. Overseas, Believer opened to $17.6 million in its first 52 markets, for a soft worldwide launch of $44.2 million.
“Even if it had opened to $35 million — as the tracking data suggested last week — that would have been a disappointment,” said David Herrin, founder of tracking and research firm The Quorum. “Bringing back beloved IP does not mean you will reach the heights of these statistical anomalies [like Blumhouse’s 2018 Halloween reboot, which opened to a stunning $76.2 million]. You’re setting yourself up for failure.”
Other headwinds included a last-minute schedule change to introduce Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert film, the SAG-AFTRA strike that limited talent marketing, and a crowded horror market with The Nun II and Saw X among Believer’s competitors. The next few weeks are uncertain for Believer, as horror films often continue to roll as Halloween approaches, but given the critical/viewer response – and the Swifties, it’s heading into theaters this week with a projected opening of more than $100 million intrude – Believer could disappear from screens quicker than usual.
We’re told Universal remains committed to its new intellectual property for now – there are two more Exorcist films in the works. However, sources say Believer’s reception will almost certainly require some degree of creative rethinking for the next two films. The first sequel will be called “Deceiver,” which was announced for 2025 and has a finished script. Director Green was also expected to return, but he recently expressed some doubts about his participation (“My intention is just to make things, and when those plans come true, when I find myself in them [The Exorcist: Deceiver] “I would be thrilled,” Green told THR. “But for now, I’m navigating from the perspective of history, looking at the realities of my life as I turn around.”)
However, there is some light on the horizon for Universal and Blumhouse in the near term. Their next horror title, the video game-inspired Chuck E. Cheese nightmare fuel Five Nights at Freddy’s (trailer below), is expected to launch on October 27th to wide acclaim, despite being a day-and-date release with Peacock.
Pamela McClintock contributed to this report.