The Exorcist: Believer’s dismal critical reaction makes it uncertain whether the newest Exorcist movie will be a financial failure. In an effort to avoid box office rivalry with the much anticipated Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, The Exorcist: Believer made its global premiere on October 6, 2023, one week before its originally intended release date of October 13, 2023. The Exorcist: Believer has not yet achieved financial break-even on its projected production budget from its opening weekend domestic ticket sales, in contrast to The Eras Tour, which has already made over $100 million in pre-ticket sales alone.
The dismal critical and economic reception to The Exorcist: Believer puts the entire franchise in risk, especially because The Exorcist: Deceiver is currently in development for a 2025 release. This franchise has struggled to find relevance and success in the 50 years since the first movie came out, and director David Gordon Green, best known for his blockbuster revival of the Halloween franchise in 2018, seems to have taken on too much. Although it is still expected that Universal Pictures will proceed with its ambitious trilogy, it won’t be known whether director David Gordon Green will return until the final box office results are released in the upcoming weeks.
The Exorcist: Believer Opened Below Expectations
The popular reality programme Big Brother’s episode theme the week before the broadcast of The Believer included the film, which was heavily promoted and hyped. It’s domestic box office performance fell short of earlier projections, which estimated that the movie would bring in between $30 and $35 million in its opening weekend. The Exorcist: Believer’s domestic and international box office gross for its opening weekend. Which totaled around $26.5 million and over $44 million, fell short of expectations but was not too far off.
With a $30 million production budget, The Exorcist: Believer still has plenty of time until Halloween. To avoid being the greatest failure in the Exorcist trilogy. The first movie made around $231 million domestically and just under $429 million internationally. Becoming a cultural phenomenon and a significant moment in cinema history. A $12 million budget for The Exorcist in 1973 would be nearly comparable to $83 million in 2023. After accounting for inflation. The largest failure of the trilogy was 2004’s Exorcist: The Beginning. Which brought in just under $44 million internationally from a staggering $78 million budget. The Exorcist II: The Heretic made $25 million from a $14 million budget in 1977.
Due to a $400 million deal, Believer’s box office has significantly declined
The impending Exorcist trilogy’s rights cost Universal and Peacock $400 million. Considering the ramifications of how the other two anticipated Exorcist films will do in the upcoming years. The bar for how much the film needs to be a hit is unquestionably greater. There may already be some reason for concern regarding the endurance and general calibre of The Exorcist: Deceiver. And subsequent installments due to Believer’s dismal critical reaction and early box office results. It may be devastating for Universal, Peacock, and Blumhouse. If the sequels are shelved in the wake of Believer’s poor box office performance and critical reception.
If this movie can’t bounce back this Halloween season, a replacement in the director’s chair will be a lot more plausible than the new Exorcist trilogy being completely scrapped. Even while David Gordon Green still gets a lot of credit for bringing back Halloween in 2018. And creating one of the finest entries in that horror genre. His later films, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, were both critically and commercially panned. Given the increased stakes of a new Exorcist trilogy, which is still likely to happen under Universal and Peacock’s $400 million agreement. A new approach to the series may be the wisest move now that Green is no longer in charge.
Be First to Comment