For the first time in nearly 20 years, another sequel (not counting the television series) to the iconic Exorcist franchise was released with David Gordon Green as the director of the latest film. In July 2021, NBC Universal shelled out $400 million for the rights of the Exorcist IP. It was confirmed that the latest reboot will be a three-part trilogy with Green helming the project.
Unfortunately, the newest Exorcist film may have already doomed the potential to be the first true success of a property that hasn’t been hot in decades. Exorcist: Believer was trashed by critics, and though it does appear that the film ultimately made a decent profit since it’s made nearly $100 worldwide, the backlash towards David Gordon Green’s interpretation of the horror film could ruin the box office success of the remaining two entries in the series. Exorcist: Believer may not be a box office flop, but it did fail to connect with the mainstream audience.
David Gordon Green Didn’t Understand What Made The Franchise Popular
The key components of the Halloween franchise are Michael Myers and Laurie Strode. Those are the stars of the series and what most horror fans think of when Halloween comes to mind. However, The Exorcist doesn’t have the stars of Halloween. Whenever you bring up the franchise then it’s always the first film that comes to mind. That’s mainly because The Exorcist remains the best film in the series; even 50 years later.
The demonic possession sub-genre hasn’t evolved past The Exorcist template since the film was released in 1973. You could argue that Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair are the stars of the franchise as they were in the most successful film to date. However, those two names don’t carry as much weight as Michael Myers and Laurie Strode.
Add into the fact that The Exorcist: Believer checks off the box that the original film established without subverting the formula for what Halloween such a big hit isn’t going to work this time around. Exorcist: Believer needed to be fresh and more importantly, good. It’s far from the worst film you’ll ever see, but it’s just a bland reimagining of every demonic possession film that’s been released since the 1973 smash hit.
Fans Are Still Sour Over The Way Halloween Ended
David Gordon Green revived the Halloween franchise with a strong opening to the three-part trilogy. Sadly, the quality of the films only gets worse. There are fans of the latest take of the Halloween franchise, but the general consensus is that Green failed to give a satisfying conclusion to the iconic series.
The idea of having the three films take place in one night was an excellent one. The fact that Green deviated from that plan in Halloween Ends was a head-scratcher. But even Halloween Kills is considered a misfire by many. Green showcased that he didn’t know how to write a compelling trilogy that would satisfy the critics and audience. More importantly, the box office numbers for Kills and Ends dwindled compared to the 2018 reboot.
Universal was going for the same concept with the Exorcist reboot, but Green had an uphill battle to climb since fans were not happy with his Halloween trilogy. Exorcist: Believer needed to be great. Sadly, it wasn’t.
The Three-Film Trilogy Strategy Is A Burden To The Reboot
The problem with announcing a three-part trilogy out of the gate is that means the story won’t be complete. This was one of the biggest issues with Halloween Kills; since Halloween Ends was the final installment, no one expected Michael Myers or Laurie Strode to die. The same thing can be said about the demon in Believer. While it’s not impossible to make a great trilogy, having three Exorcist films feels unnecessary.
At the very least, the three-film concept worked for Halloween because each film had a different premise that expanded the world of the classic series. However, it doesn’t appear that Exorcist: Believer can ring out two more compelling films from a concept that was tired 20 years ago. The next two Exorcist films can turn out great, but the lackluster buzz surrounding Believer is that no one expected a firm conclusion to the story. It killed most of the suspense and momentum of the sequel and though there are a few surprises here and there in Believer, it never feels as if the film truly needs three movies to tell its story.
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