Before we dig into last weekend’s box office or new expectations for The Exorcist: Believer, let’s address the elephant in the room. When it comes to making truly terrifying movies, how do spiritually-aware filmmakers protect themselves when creating otherworldly scenes?
Stephanie Allain, an executive producer for the horror film reboot and also the president of the Producer’s Guild of America, can’t answer for everyone, but she was grateful a person arrived each day to burn sage and add energy-clearing, ethnically-sourced palo santo to the mix.
“It was so comforting, literally to have her on set with us,” explains Allain, speaking of the person who helped keep the energy clear. However, the Emmy-nominated, Academy Awards producer has another scary movie tip. “For me —who doesn’t typically go to horror movies — to make one completely helped me fight through the fear, because behind the scenes you see how everything happens. So it’s terrifying on screen, but now I can watch them because I see the pieces.”
Audiences, however, see the film in one fell swoop and Generation Xers in particular – who were kids around when the original Exorcist released – say they are ready for anything. As The Exorcist: Believer enters its second weekend, a lot is riding on the outcomes of the reboot of this classic film franchise. With an opening weekend box office of $27.2-million the film outperformed all new releases combined and earned its budget back. It earned $52 million worldwide so far and has wowed film fans with surprise performances by actors who where in the original movie, which released 50 years ago this December. At the same time, some viewers and reviewers have been critical of the film, the 6th Exorcist film made, stating it is not as scary as the original.
“This is a new beginning, and this is the first movie that Ellen Burstyn has been in since the original,” explains Allain. “She is reprising a character. I don’t think that’s happened ever. So, this movie is really a callback to the original. It wasn’t a regular horror movie. It was a real movie, if I can say that. I think that’s why it has lasted so long because it’s really dealing with emotions. It’s dealing with a parent’s love for their child, which is so universal.”
Burstyn’s return was kept a secret until absolutely necessary, Allain says. Not even all the actors knew she would be reprising the role. As far as new-to-the-franchie talent, The Exorcist: Believer stars Leslie Odom Jr as the doting dad who is concerned that his teen went out with a friend and came back possessed. Said teen is portrayed by Lidya Jewett, 16. The best friend in the film is portrayed by Olivia O’Neill.
Believer doesn’t take into account any other remakes or films outside of the original and is described by the filmmakers to be the authentic reboot of the next set of Exorcist films. It also happens to be one of Allain’s favorite childhood horror flicks. She saw it at age 12 in the theater and had a bird’s eye view of the furor that erupted after its release, leading it to be banned for a time.
One of the reasons why the film was so scary – then and now – is because it captures the zeitgeist of a religious nation who enjoys going into dark basements and peering around suspicious corners.
“In my analysis, religion so thoroughly brainwashed western civilization that the 1971 book and 1973 film summoned long-buried fears within a majority of its viewers, fears that the artistry and veracity of the original film expertly harvested,” explains Nat Segaloff, who worked in publicity for the original film and whose book The Exorcist Legacy: 50 Years of Fear, released this past summer.
“When you go to the movies to watch a horror film, Dracula, the Mummy, Jason, and the Frankenstein monster stay in the theater after the show, whereas Satan might be waiting for you in your bedroom closet. Although writer William Peter Blatty and filmmaker William Friedkin insisted that “The Exorcist” was not a horror movie — rather, it’s a film about the mystery of faith and a supernatural detective story — the world has, for fifty years, considered it the scariest movie ever made.”
Will The Exorcist: Believer top that?
Only time will tell. But Segaloff describes the first film’s “believable, relatable construction” about a mother trying to save her child, a young priest who loses faith and a detective trying to solve a murder as relatable and therefore marketable movie material. The younger generations more accustomed to slasher films might need to sit a bit longer with the storylines of The Exorcist, he posits. Even so, he says, “The possession is what ties them all together. The Exorcist is serious but not sanctimonious, and this makes it believable.”
The Exorcist: Believer moves the story forward by focusing on two teen girl friends, their loving parents and one punchy twist at the end. For Allain, signing on to such a film is all about her instincts and her heartbeat. Having championed Hustle & Flow
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“I’ve known Jason for a long time,” Allain explains. “We serve on a lot of committees at the Academy together. He is the master of modern horror. And when he called me up and said, ‘would you join us?’ There was no doubt. I was like, ‘please, I’d love to.’
But also, the script worked for her.
“I think as a producer, the most important thing you have is passion because you are out there selling, you’re out there gathering talent to put it together,” she says. “If you don’t feel it in your heart, you can’t transfer that to anybody else.”
The Exorcist: Believer released October 6 and is directed by David Gordon Green, who co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Sattler from a story by Scott Teems, Danny McBride, and Green. A sequel, The Exorcist: Deceiver, is planned for April 2025.
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