‘The Exorcist: Believer’ Takes $27.2 Million Box Office Opening on Pre-Swift Weekend
Universal/Blumhouse’s “The Exorcist: Believer” has earned a $27.2 million domestic and opening at the box office that would be decent start for a franchise horror film on its own, but not so much as the start of a planned trilogy.
Like their recently completed “Halloween” trilogy, Universal and Blumhouse have called on director David Gordon Green to make a new trio of films that follow up on William Friedkin’s 1973 classic. According to The New York Times, Universal paid a whopping $400 million for the franchise rights, which come with other revenue streams such as Universal Studios theme park mazes.
But neither critics nor moviegoers have been enthused by this new take on “The Exorcist,” with Rotten Tomatoes scores standing at 23% critics and 57% audience. CinemaScore polls were just as rough with a C grade, below the B that Lionsgate’s “Saw X” earned last week and the B+ that Green’s “Halloween” earned in 2018.
A second installment, “The Exorcist: Deceiver,” was already announced and slated prior to the release of “Believer” and is set to come out in April 2025.
In addition to the lackluster reception, “Exorcist: Believer” is facing holdover competition from other horror films. “Saw X” earned $8.2 million in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total to $32.5 million against a reported $13 million prodction budget.
“Saw X” took the No. 3 spot on the charts this weekend behind “Exorcist” and Paramount/Spin Master’s “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” which earned $11.7 million in its second weekend and has a 10-day total of $38.8 million.
In fourth is 20th Century/New Regency’s “The Creator,” which is not getting the audience traction that was hoped for the original sci-fi film with a second weekend total of $6.1 million, giving it a total of $24.9 million domestic and $61.8 million worldwide against a budget of $80 million before marketing.
Fathom Events completes the top 5 with “The Blind,” a faith-based film about “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson that earned $3.5 million from 1,312 theaters in its second weekend for a total of $10.9 million.
Outside the top 5, Sony/Black Bear’s “Dumb Money” continues its long struggle towards breaking even with $2.1 million earned in its second wide weekend, giving it a total of $10.6 million.
Finally, in limited release, A24/Chernin’s provocative “Dicks: The Musical” opened in seven theaters in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, grossing $220,867 for a per theater average of $31,552. Starring Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson and based on their off-Broadway musical “F—ing Identical Twins, the film has a 75% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Next weekend sees the much anticipated arrival of Taylor Swift’s concert film “Eras,” which is likely to bring the first $100 million-plus opening ever in October. It will be much needed as the box office has not seen weekend grosses climb above $100 million since the weekend of Aug. 11, which was the last weekend that “Barbie” was No. 1 on the charts.
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