The power of Christ compelled David Gordon Green and Blumhouse’s The Exorcist: Believer straight to the top of the box office this weekend with a $27 million domestic debut on a budget of $30 million. The first entry into The Exorcist franchise in almost twenty years then went on to nab $17.8 million at the international box office for a total global start of $45.1 million.
While these numbers seem impressive on the surface, it’s worth remembering that the battle for distribution rights cost Universal a jaw-dropping $400 million, so it is imperative that audiences feel like the next two entries in the series are worth their time and hard-earned cash.
Variety reports that Universal’s president of domestic distribution Jim Orr remains hopeful though, reinforcing what us in the genre already know to be true – horror sells, and sells well: “Those titles have been legging out better than the genre normally provides […] Hopefully we will see that as well.”
William Friedkin’s 1973 original The Exorcist is considered by many to be one of the greatest horror movies of all time, so The Exorcist: Believer always had some very huge shoes to fill. In case you missed the plot synopsis of The Exorcist: Believer (based on a story created by Green, Scott Teems, and Danny McBride) for the film that’ll kick off the trilogy, here it is to remind you:
“Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom, Jr.) has raised their daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett, Good Girls) on his own. But when Angela and her friend Katherine (Olivia Marcum), disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn)
The second entry into the trilogy, The Exorcist: Deceiver is currently set to hit theaters on April 18, 2025. However, with a somewhat muted box office reception and pretty poor reviews across the board from fans and critics alike (the possession horror currently sits at 23% on Rotten Tomatoes and audience score of C via CinemaScore), The Exorcist: Deceiver will need to pull out all the stops to regain the faith of fans.
Whatever the future of The Exorcist: Believer trilogy, we’ll have all the updates for you as and when we get them!
