Exorcist: Believer Response Is So Bad That The Sequel Is Changing
Exorcist: Believer was released last weekend (October 6), and The Hollywood Reporter stated that viewers of the new Exorcist installment largely felt like the movie fell short of the excellence of the original film. Something will have to change for the next movie in the new trilogy series, Exorcist: Deceiver.
Believer is set as a sequel to the original 1973 movie, The Exorcist, and features the return of Ellen Burstyn, who starred in the original film.
Exorcist: Deceiver is undergoing massive changes following Believer’s failure at the box office.
Exorcist: Deceiver is planned for release in April of 2025, but the script for the next movie is reportedly already complete. Yet, the response from moviegoers last weekend made it clear that creative minds working on the project will definitely need to swing in a new direction.
Only producing just over $44 million on its opening weekend, Exorcist: Believer didn’t quite make the cut in terms of profits. Though the earnings of the new installment are more than any other Exorcist movie that came before it, this film has a lot more invested in its creation, and Believer is set to be the first of a trilogy in the reprisal of the Exorcist Franchise.
Given that Universal bought the rights to the horror franchise for a hefty price of $400 million, the studio is going to have to do better on the next film. Though the $400 million price tag did include streaming rights on Peacock and a special exhibit at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, filmmakers will have to rethink their approach to the next installment in the series to secure future engagement from franchise fans.
It seems Universal may have put too many of their eggs into one basket in the hope that the reunion of Blumhouse and David Gordon Green (the director of Halloween 2018) would reignite movie magic.
Only producing just over $44 million on its opening weekend, Exorcist: Believer didn’t quite make the cut in terms of profits.
However, critics of Exorcist: Believer felt like the movie lacked the presence of new ideas and reused too many of the scare tactics from the original. Some even felt like the movie was “superficially competent” and “hella disappointing.” Director David Gordon Green has also publicly expressed his reluctance to take part in the making of the next film.
Halloween is fast approaching, and the dark holiday offers a glimmer of hope for the Exorcist: Believer numbers.
If impressing die-hard Exorcist fans wasn’t a big enough challenge, Exorcist: Believer has faced a few other monumental obstacles along its path to theaters. The release date of the film was changed to get ahead of Taylor Swift’s new concert film. The SAG-AFTRA strikes in Hollywood made talent marketing a more difficult task, and two other major horror movies (The Nun II and Saw X) are crowding theatergoers’ minds.
Halloween is fast approaching, and the dark holiday offers a glimmer of hope for the Exorcist: Believer numbers. Movies released around Halloween typically have a longer earning window. Regardless, the next installment in the series has to find a new way to draw people into the story, or the future of the franchise could be at risk.
As the sixth installment to the Exorcist Franchise, Exorcist: Believer certainly has some big shoes to fill. You can Check out the new film in theaters now and form your own opinion on its value to the franchise.
