Reboot, IP sequel, retcon as the direct sequel to 1973 original, The Exorcist: Believer shrugged off poor reviews to take in $27.2 million in its debut. While a bit lower than the recent The Nun 2‘s $32.6 million, it’s still a win for the sixth title of the series amidst the impending horror season. Adjusted for inflation, this lands right between the opening weekends of The Exorcist 3 ($23.2 million) and Exorcist: The Beginning ($30.6 million).
But, the elephant in the room is Universal spent a whopping $400 million for the rights, intending to span a trilogy with the follow-up coming in 2025. The tactic isn’t necessarily a win for Universal, who has been on quite a roll in 2023, but time awaits whether this was the right call. Currently at $45.1 million globally, that’ll have to do. We’d have a much more lukewarm conversation if it opened higher and with better reviews.
Saw X took a noteworthy dip of 55% in its second weekend, but it’s relatively good compared to the overall series. The tenth installment is one of the best entries in the series, hammering down on an intriguing plot of lies about the one and only John Kramer and him exacting his methods on the ones that manipulated him. With $43.9 million globally, it’s already cut past Spiral and is on pace to finish between $90-100 million globally.
In other news, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie dipped 48% in its second weekend with $11.75 million and a cumulative gross of $87.06 million. Not bad news for the dogsters that wish to save Adventure City. Disney/New Regency’s The Creator will suffer more than necessary, being a sci-fi film based on the impending evolution of artificial intelligence. $61.8 million thus far on a $80 million budget will not help matters. And The Blind rounds out the top five with $3.12 million in its second weekend, thanks to a noteworthy performance and story involving Phil Robertson.
A Haunting in Venice has passed $100 million worldwide, The Nun 2 will be passing $250 million globally by the end of this sentence, and Expend4bles has crashed and burned as what appears to be the final ever installment in the mediocre action collection.
Next weekend sees the release of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, Dear David, and Divinity.
