The Exorcist: Believer Is A Huge Box Office Gamble For Universal And The Pressure Is On

For the first time in nearly 20 years, a new "Exorcist" movie will be hitting theaters just in time for the Halloween season. "The Exorcist: Believer" is going to be the beginning of a brand new trilogy within the series, which began with director William Friedkin's all-time horror classic in 1973. What's more, it hails from Blumhouse Productions, the most trusted name in studio horror in the modern era, as well as director David Gordon Green, the man behind the recent blockbuster "Halloween" trilogy. But while this might sound like a home run in some ways, Universal Pictures is taking a big, expensive gamble here that it desperately needs to pay off.

Before getting into the bigger behind-the-scenes business driving this movie, let's examine its opening weekend prospects. According to tracking numbers provided by Deadline, "Believer" is currently looking at a debut in the $30 million range at the domestic box office. But that would seem to be on the optimistic side of things. Box Office Pro currently has Green's latest taking in anywhere between $21 and $31 million, which would mean that $30 million would be on the high side. That would also be below the openings of 2018's "Halloween" ($76.2 million), "Halloween Kills" ($50 million), and "Halloween Ends" ($40 million).

Now, as far as the "Exorcist" franchise goes, this would be miles better than anything since the original, which is good news. That said, Universal Pictures is pot-committed here as it shelled out $400 million in a deal with Morgan Creek to make this new trilogy, seemingly predicated on the success that Green had with his "Halloween" films (which, collectively, grossed nearly $500 million globally). Whatever the thinking, spending that kind of money means the studio absolutely needs a big result from this first entry to justify the whole venture.