IfThe Exorcist: Believer, the sixth installment in theExorcistfilm series, had been presented simply as a standalone sequel to the great 1973 horror filmThe Exorcist, the critically-maligned sequel might have been casually dismissed as a failed experiment to reignite the long-dormant series.
However, after Universal Pictures paid a whopping $400 million in June 2021 to buy the rights to theExorcistfilm series with the intention of launching a newExorcistfilm trilogy,The Exorcist: Believer, as the first entry in this would-be trilogy, automatically became the embodiment of this $400 million gamble.
Moreover, whileThe Exorcist: Believer, which carried a fairly modest production cost of $30 million, would ordinarily in and of itself be on paceto reach profitabilityduring its theatrical run, based on the film’s current box office trajectory, when factoring in the $400 million deal, the film’s box office performance has been relatively disappointing.
Indeed, while Universal ostensibly hopes to be able to successfully leverage theExorcistIP across its portfolio, primarily through its Peacock streaming service, the underwhelming box office performance ofThe Exorcist: Believerhasn’t generated much excitement for futureExorcistfilms, certainly not enough to justify spending $400 million.
Descending Box Office
In its openingweekend of release,The Exorcist: Believergrossed $26.5 million domestically, below the industry projections, which had the film grossing between $30 million and $36 million domestically in its opening weekend of release.
However, while the $26.5 million figure, which represents the biggest domestic opening weekend performance for anyExorcistfilm, enabledThe Exorcist: Believerto handily claim the top spot on the domestic weekend box office chart, for the first film in a would-be $400 million newExorcistfilm trilogy, this resultwas very uninspiring.
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Indeed, while the $26.5 million figure is certainly comparable to the domestic opening weekend performances of other recent genre films, likeThe Black Phone($23.6 million),Evil DeadRise($24.5 million),The Nun II($32.6 million), andSmile($22.6 million), the mammoth overhang of the aforementioned $400 million deal makes the $26.5 million figure seem much more gloomy than if Universal had instead simply acquired the rights to produce a singleExorcistsequel.
Moreover, the domestic opening weekend box office performance ofThe Exorcist: The Believerdoesn’t reflect the palpable lack of momentum and spiritual resonance that has enveloped the film, which has received the type of lackluster reviews that are typically reserved for the ignominious end of a stale film series, not the dawn of a new era.
The $400 Million Sequel
In its second domestic box office weekend,The Exorcist: Believergrossed approximately$11 million for a current domestic box office total of nearly $45 million.
After finishing first at the domestic box office in its opening weekend of release,The Exorcist: Believer, in itssophomore box office weekend, finished in second place, behind the pop culture juggernaut concert filmTaylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which grossed approximately $96 million domestically in its opening weekend of release.
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Moreover, both domestically and overseas,The Exorcist: The Believerhas surpassed the box office total of its most direct horror film competitor,Saw X, which has presently grossed over $41 million domestically and nearly $30 million overseas for a current worldwide box office total of over $71 million.
The Exorcist: Believerhas grossed approximately $40 million overseas for a current worldwide box office total of nearly $85 million.
Again, while these numbers, when viewed in isolation, wouldn’t ordinarily be a cause of great concern for Universal Pictures, the inescapable specter of the $400 million price tag that’s attached toThe Exorcist: Legacymakes it practically impossible for the film, and any potential newExorcistfilm trilogy, to achieve theatrical profitability.
Faith No More
This is reflected in the comparative box office performance of theHalloweenreboot sequel trilogy films, especially the first entry,Halloween, which grossed over $76 million in its opening domestic box office weekend, while the next two installments,Halloween KillsandHalloween Ends, had domestic opening weekend grosses of approximately $49 million and $40 million, respectively.
This is why the current box office performance ofThe Exorcist: Believershould inspire real pessimism, as while the film’s box office performance has been fairly respectable, its box office trajectory suggests that the new $400 millionExorcistfilm series has no viable future, commercially speaking.
Moreover, the most intriguing remaining question regarding the future of the seemingly ill-fated would-beExorcistfilm trilogy is to wonder whether Universal, knowing what it knows now, would make the $400 million deal again.
If you want to learn more about the original William Friedkin film and why it was so culturally important, check out our brief video essay onThe Exorcistbelow:
