‘The Exorcist: Believer’ Scares Away Competition With $27.2 Million Domestic Opening

The Halloween season is now settled thickly into movie theaters. The Exorcist: Believer has made its debut, serving as a follow up to the 1973 classic. 

Taking in an opening gross of $27.2 million, the film is well on track to regaining its $30 million production cost, and will take home the top spot at the box office this weekend. Distributor Blumhouse bought the rights to the Exorcist to use for a trilogy from Morgan Creek in 2021. 

The rights sold for $400 million, and as Deadline points out as well, that doesn’t mean an even 3-way split across budgets for all 3 films. It would also cover fees, talent buyout, and branding, among others. And, despite Blumhouse being able to give the treatment to Halloween to a decent measure of success, it remains to be seen if the same treatment will be able to work for Exorcist, with this new outing boasting a mere 23% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie pulls up second place, but similarly to Barbenheimer, PAW has been teamed up with release partner Saw X, to be dubbed Saw Patrol by the internet, with Saw X taking bronze. PAW takes home a total of $11.75 million this weekend, while Saw X takes $8.15 million. Both movies saw a drop this weekend of 58% and 55% respectively. Saw X is also generating revenue through good word of mouth, with many praising the sequel in this long-standing franchise. 

Fourth place is The Creator with $6.1 million this weekend, and fifth place is The Blind, with $3.12 million. 

1. Exorcist: Believer (Uni/Blumhouse), 3-Day $27.2M/ Wk 1 
2. PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (Par), 3-Day $11.75M (-58%) Total $38.8M/Wk 2
3. Saw X (LG) 3-Day $8.15M (-55%), Total $32.5M/Wk 2
4. The Creator (New Reg/20th/Dis) 3-Day $6.1M (-56%), Total $24.9M/Wk 2
5. The Blind (Fath) 3-Day $3.12M (-28%), Total $10.48M/Wk 2
6. A Haunting In Venice (20th, Dis) 3-day $2.73M (-25%), Total $35.6M/Wk 4
7. The Nun 2 (NL) 3-Day $2.57M (-46%), Total $81.06M/Wk 5
8. Dumb Money (Sony) 3-Day $2.15M (-35%), Total $10.6M/Wk 4
9. The Equalizer 3 (Sony) 3-Day $1.83M (-32%), Total $88.8M/Wk 6 
10. Hocus Pocus 30th Anniversary (Dis) 3-Day $1.54 M, Lifetime total $46.4M/ Wk 1 re-release