After critics saw The Exorcist: Believer, they must have thought they’d leave the theater scared out of their minds. Based on early reviews, though, it seems the only scary discovery was finding the upcoming horror film to be mediocre at best.
The Exorcist: Believer is the first film in a planned trilogy series by Halloween revival franchise’s David Gordon Green. A couple of days before the movie’s theatrical release, his latest horror film is not hitting well with critics. It currently has a 23% on Rotten Tomatoes due to generally negative reviews. While Exorcist sequels tend to get mediocre reviews, this movie being part of a planned trilogy has higher stakes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal reportedly bought the rights to the franchise for $400 million. This means The Exorcist: Believer needs to make enough box office money for the horror franchise to continue.
When co-producer Jason Blum spoke to IndieWire back in March, he admitted the latest Exorcism movie would be a risky project.
“The riskiest movie I have ever made for sure is not out yet,” said Jason Blum. “It’s The Exorcist. Just because it’s so expensive. Usually the bar to success on everything we do because it’s inexpensive is incredibly low. For The Exorcist, it’s high.”
ComingSoon’s Alyse Wax said in her review that The Exorcist: Believer wasn’t very scary with the reappearance of Chris MacNeil unnecessary to the story.
“Ultimately, The Exorcist: Believer doesn’t really make sense as a sequel to The Exorcist. It fits within the canon, but it doesn’t feel like a natural sequel. While the film isn’t scary like the original, top-notch performances make this an entertaining film.”
The New York Times said the film is full of “half-baked ideas” that have no reason for existing. THR’s review called it “hella disappointing.” A critic from The Sunshine State Cineplex even went as far as to declare it “the worst horror film of the year.”
Is There Any Hope for the Future of the Exorcist Trilogy?
It’s hard to know if The Exorcist: Believer’s negative reviews will scare audiences away from buying a ticket for it. Deadline reported that the latest Exorcist film is expected to bring in $30-35 million at the box office. It’s currently looking to set a new box office record of being the highest-grossing film of the franchise. Horror fans also tend not to take too much notice of critical scores. As reported by The Ringer back in 2020, Piedmont Media Research President Joshua Lynn stated, “Audience scores matter far more for horror films than any other genre.” So, there may still be hope that audiences’ heads will turn more than the critics have.
The Exorcist: Believer’s future may not have to fall prey if it underperforms at the box office. THR says that because films in the horror genre tend to be a mixed bag, it shouldn’t affect a franchise the way it would in the superhero genre. But if it does, this could potentially become Universal’s next costly failed franchise following the discontinuation of the classic monsters franchise Dark Universe after 2017’s The Mummy underperformed at the box office.
As the box office predicts The Exorcist: Believer will have a good run, Universal Studios should still cross their fingers. Otherwise, The Exorcist: Deceiver’s 2025 release date and the untitled third movie could cease to exist.
