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The Exorcist: Believer had no trouble delivering a first-place finish at the weekend box office with an estimated $27.2 million. While a respectable opening in this climate, the R-rated film came in below expectations domestically as it tries to revive the franchise after Universal reportedly paid a hefty $400 million for rights.
Overseas, the pic started off with $17.9 million from its first 40 markets for a global start of $45.1 million.
The David Gordon Green-directed horror pic hits theaters exactly 50 years after the first Exorcist opened and made cinema history, grossing nearly $450 million at the global box office before adjusting for inflation. Directed by William Friedkin, the film was based on the book by William Peter Blatty and starred Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn.
The Believer recently had to move up its release by one week after Taylor Swift announced that her new concert film, The Eras Tour, will open across the globe on Oct. 13 since both films will appeal to younger moviegoers, and especially younger females. It’s never ideal to make an 11th hour release date change, since some marketing materials, including billboards and other outdoor promotions, have the original date. Swift’s movie is expected to be the event of the season and is tracking for a mega domestic opening in the $100 million to $125 million range.
Blumhouse, Morgan Creek and Universal teamed on Exorcist: Believer, which cost a relatively modest $30 million to produce, with two more installments already planned (the sequel is set to hit theaters in 2025). Universal bought the rights from Morgan Creek in 2021 as legacy studios raced to compete with streamers.
Green, Universal and Jason Blum — Hollywood’s horror maestro were the same team behind the widely successful revival of the Halloween franchise. In 2018, Halloween opened to record-breaking $72.2 million domestically.
Heading into this weekend, Exorcist: The Believer was tracking for a domestic launch in the $30 million to $36 million range.
Exorcist: Believer is the fourth film in the franchise (the second and third were disappointments). For the first time since the original 1973 film, Burstyn reprises her iconic role as Chris MacNeil, an actress who has been forever altered by what happened to her daughter Regan five decades before. It centers on Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.), whose daughter (Lidya Jewett) and her friend (Olivia Marcum) become possessed.
It’s hard to say if bad reviews are hurting Believer. Its critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes is a only 23 percent. And audiences gave the film a C CinemaScore, which isn’t entirely unusual for a horror title (however, Sax X earned a B, while The Nun II received a C+). The good news: moviegoers gave it solid marks on PostTrak’s audience exit polls.
The horror market is also saturated. Saw X, which debuted to $18.6 million a week ago, earned an estimated $8.2 million in its second outing to come in No. 3 behind Exorcist and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, which earned $11.8 million in its sophomore outing. Lionsgate’s latest Saw installment fell 55 percent for a 10-day domestic total of $32.5 million against a reported production budget of just $13 million.
Paramount’s PAW sequel held well with families, falling only 48 percent for a 10-day domestic total of $38.9 million and $87.1 million globally against a modest $30 million budget.
The Nun II, which opened to $32.6 million last month, is now in its fifth weekend and earned an estimated $2.6 million to place No. 7 on the Oct. 6-Oct. 8 domestic box office chart. New Line’s horror pic has earned $81 million domestically and a sensational $167.6 million overseas for a global haul of $248.7 million against a $38 million budget (it’s no wonder why horror can be one of the most profitable genres).
In terms of the top five films of the weekend, New Regency’s original sci-fi epic The Creator fell 57 percent in its second outing to $8.2 million for a 10-day domestic total of $24.9 million and $61.8 million worldwide against an $80 million production budget.
At the specialty box office, A24 and Chernin Entertainment’s Dicks: The Musical scored a stellar location average of $31,552, the best per theater average of the weekend and one of the best of the year.
More to come.
This story was originally published Oct. 7 at 7:30 am.
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