Lydia Jewett and Olivia Marcum in “The Exorcist: The Believer”
Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
From a commercial point of view, at least, Al-Mu’awwidhatayn: The believer Suddenly it seems scary.
The first film in a planned horror trilogy, The exorcist: the believer It gets fairly poor reviews – scoring just a 27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
It is unusual for Exorcist Films that leave critics unimpressed. The series may have launched with William Friedkin’s iconic 1973 classic, but none of the previous four installments have received much acclaim.
but The exorcist: the believer (trailer below) It’s not just another sequel. Universal reportedly paid $ 400 million to acquire franchise rights in 2021, and Believer It needs to generate enough momentum to help launch two more chains.
The film was tracking for a good opening weekend — a potential franchise best, in fact — with $30 million to $35 million. It’s not clear whether the revisions, published today, will impact ticket sales; Horror films are often reviewable. Tracking is on par with Universal’s recently released opening Nun 2. But as producer Jason Blum pointed out IndieWire in March, Al-Mu’awwidhatayn: The believer It needs to generate some amazing box office returns. Blum’s 2018 reboot of Halloween Franchise (which, e.g Believeralso directed by David Gordon Green) opened to $77 million.
“The most dangerous film I’ve ever made hasn’t been released yet.” Bloom said (M3GAN, Get out, Black phone), who is considered the most prolific and successful horror filmmaker today. “that it And exorcist. Just because it is very expensive. The barrier to success in everything we do because it’s inexpensive is usually incredibly low. to And exorcist“It’s high.”
The film revolves around Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.), whose daughter (Lydia Jewett) and her friend (Olivia Marcum) have become possessed. Ellen Burstyn also returns to the franchise in her first appearance since the original film.
“Double the possession, half the fun” offside New York times. AV Club He gave her a “D” Described, “The film is a bag of immature ideas that never coalesce into a coherent theme or reason for being.” Another critic Until he called Believer “The worst horror movie of the year, despite Odom’s brilliance.” There are some positive notes too Watchman And empire among them.
Reviews track the latest low budget shows opinion Lionsgate franchise X sawscoring 84 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and the modestly produced horror title on A24, Talk to meIt received a “fresh” rating of 94 percent. However, neither title came close to its $30 million domestic opening weekend as expected Believer Recorded by Nun 2 – which received a rating of only 52 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Director Green has been attached to helm the upcoming film, The exorcist: the deceiver, which is planned for 2025, and a third, as-yet-untitled film. in Hollywood ReporterIn a review, critic David Rooney predicted, “What love do you have for David Gordon Green’s attempts to revive John Carpenter’s game-changing style?” Halloween Maybe the franchise more or less matches your feelings about it Al-Mu’awwidhatayn: The believer“.
the new Exorcist Sequels may be less dependent on the first entry being a hit than other franchises — like superhero films, for example — because fans are accustomed to horror film franchises succeeding or failing and Exorcist The brand goes back decades.
Prospect Believer A likely underperformance, it should bring to mind the specter of another expensive attempt by Universal to launch a multi-film horror-inspired franchise — the canceled monster classic Dark Universe franchise, which began with 2017’s The mummy Reboot starring Tom Cruise.
with BelieverThe box office is tracking positive, however, not all the critical criticism may be as significant.
However, Universal executives may want to say some prayers.
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