The sequel to the much acclaimed horror thriller – The Exorcist is here after 50 years since the original debuted in theatres. The Exorcist: Believer is the first film of a sequel trilogy to 1973’s The Exorcist. It is similar to what David Gordon Green did to the Halloween franchise – make a direct sequel to the original film, invalidating all other sequels and spin-offs and then story arc over a trilogy. Well, his efforts in the Halloween franchise didn’t find any critical acclaim and so did the Believer. The film has opened to a a “Rotten” score on Rotten Tomatoes of 26% which now stands at 22% after 123 reviews. The film is being scrutinized by critics for lack of innovation and cheap horror. So, has the bad critical reception hampered the film’s chances of succeeding at the box office? Let’s find out.
Will The Exorcist: Believer Beat The Nun II’s Opening Weekend Collection?
Despite a miserable critical reception, The Exorcist: Believer is on track to have the best opening weekend the franchise has ever seen. The legacy sequel is estimated to earn $30 -36 million at the domestic box office, in the first three days of its release. This figure is on par with another horror sequel that released this year – The Nun II ($32.6 million). Although, it is much higher than the $18.3M Saw X opened to last weekend. The international figures aren’t out yet but I doubt the film will reach the global opening numbers of The Nun II ($85 million).
The reason for this is simple as The Conjuring universe is fairly new and this generation is familiar with it because of iconic horror demons like Annabelle and Valak. The Exorcist is a cult classic in the US but not all over the world. The last film of the franchise came out in 2005, so, I don’t think so young horror fans (international) are inclined to visit theatres for a sequel that is roasted by critics. The original The Exorcist (1973) opened in select theaters, grossing $1.9 million, before expanding wide in subsequent weeks.
Exorcist II: The Heretic opened with $6.7 million, which at the time was an opening weekend record for distributor Warner Bros. Exorcist: The Believer was the previous franchise record holder, earning $18 million over its opening weekend back in 2004. The sequel will definitely be Top 5 highest horror opening weekends of 2023, with Scream VI’s enormous $44.5 million leading the pack. As the sequel is only made on a budget of $30 million, these opening figures are looking good.
However, one must understand that Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour will release next weekend eating up a significant portion of The Exorcist: Believer’s business as she is a global icon. All that being said, I think Believer will earn a decent amount despite bad reviews, just enough to greenlit the sequel – The Exorcist: Deceiver which is slated to release on April 18th, 2025. The film is directed by David Gordon Green, the director behind the Halloween sequel trilogy and stars Ellen Burstyn, Olivia Marcum, Leslie Odom Jr., Jennifer Nettles and Lidya Jewett.
The Exorcist: Believer is playing in theatres near you.
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