Fifty years after the original film, the newly released movie “The Exorcist: Believer” took the top spot at the North American box office this weekend, earning an estimated $27.2 million in ticket sales, according to industry watcher Exhibitor Relations.
Analyst David A. Gross noted that this was a strong opening for a horror sequel, making it the most successful of all the “Exorcist” movies, despite receiving poor reviews and lukewarm audience scores for the Halloween-timed film produced by Blumhouse and Universal.
Similar to the original film, “Believer” features possessed victims experiencing convulsions, covered in sores, and speaking in tongues. The movie also incorporates an interfaith exorcism and stars Leslie Odom Jr. and Ann Dowd, with an appearance by Ellen Burstyn from the 1973 original.
Originally scheduled to open on Friday the 13th, the release date of “Believer” was moved up to avoid competing with the release of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” a concert film that was expected to perform well, as reported by Variety.
The previous weekend’s box office leader, Paramount’s family-friendly film “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” slipped to second place with $11.8 million in ticket sales for the Friday-through-Sunday period. In this installment, the Paw Patrol pups use new superpowers to protect their city and are voiced by actors Taraji P. Henson, Chris Rock, Serena Williams, and McKenna Grace.
In third place, also down one spot, is Lionsgate’s horror film “Saw X,” earning $8.2 million. This latest entry in the “Saw” series, featuring Tobin Bell as the infamous Jigsaw, has received positive reviews.
The fourth spot, down from third, went to the 20th Century sci-fi thriller “The Creator,” with $6.1 million in earnings. John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, and Allison Janney star in this film, set in a world at war with artificial intelligence.
Maintaining its fifth-place position was Fathom Events’ faith-based movie “The Blind,” which earned $3.1 million. The film portrays the real-life struggles of swamp-dwelling reality TV star Phil Robertson as he grapples with addiction and romance.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
“A Haunting in Venice” with $2.7 million
“The Nun II” with $2.6 million
“Dumb Money” with $2.2 million
“The Equalizer 3” with $1.8 million
“Hocus Pocus: 30th Anniversary” with $1.5 million
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