The Exorcist is coming back with Ellen coming back to the franchise. It's been nearly 50 years since the original but it's got an October release date, nostalgia and could become a cross demo overperformer appealing to young and old. It's also acting as a direct sequel to the 1973 version. It has Blumhouse involved. Universal spent $400M for the distribution rights so don't think they're just going to make something horrendous. The director made the last 3 Halloween films so has rebooted an old horror franchise. Horror is also one of the most consistently bankable genres.

It's got elements of IT or even TGM nostalgia that could play well into its favor. Of course will come down to film quality and marketing but how big will this be?

I think it's got a chance to be a massive film if they play their cards right.

I think Blair coming back would've been bigger than Burstyn.

I think Exorcist will open around Halloween 18 and am still upset I didn't get it in the draft.

With so many inferior films with "exorcist" in the title since 1973, I'm not sure how it will be able to differentiate or link to the original. A girl getting possessed is hardly something the series can use as a trademark. It's happened a lot. What will be the links to Friedkin's original? Music, typography on the poster, maybe a thin character relation ... it's not much. And I don't think it would be sensible to imitate the crucifix stabbing and spidering down the stairs. It would feel too much like an homage than a sequel. I also just do not believe The Exorcist has the same blockbuster appeal as Halloween. But if it can retain an air of prestige and Original Revolutionary Banned Horror about it, then it may just be able to open well.

No, it cannot pull an It run. I'll go with sub-$100 million.

It’ll depend on the cast, if they get some A listers for the priests, and put some money into it, it can probably do conjuring numbers. I agree the brand is kind of tainted, and Ellen isn’t really a character in the vein of Ripkey or Laurie Strode.

The exorcist sequels are fascinating disasters, so I’m betting and hoping for a catastrophe. I’d be more excited for a new Gremlins movie

Exorcist is too old to have any nostalgia for people under the age of 40.

Could do well, but 100-150m domestic would be amazing for it

It’s a 5 year difference from Halloween, but sure. Exorcist re release is still one of the biggest of all time and the genre itself still can open in the 35-60 million range. It’s all about marketing

Honestly, I think that is a straight up INSANE investment and no way on Earth does this pull an IT type run. The county just isn't the religious anymore, for starters, so the inherent fear isn't what it was 50 years ago. 2nd, there have been so many rip-offs and copycats of the "supernatural horror" angle that this doesn't feel fresh, either. The "HOLY FUCK A LITTLE GIRL MASTURBATED WITH A CRUCIFIX!" type of shocks will be completely missing here.

If the final product is good, I think it will be a solid hit north of $100m and potential series starter, but no way on Earth do I see that enormous investment being justified.

When is a true HORROR CROSSOVER going to happen? I.E. The Exorcist tackles the Blair Witch with helping from the people in CONJURING, etc?

The sequels to the Exorcist, forgive me if I'm wrong, have not kept the franchise in the zeitgeist as much as the Halloween, Nightmare and Friday franchises, which is the main difference,

I googled it, I had no idea there had ever even been an Exorcist 2.

And the franchise has not had prominent revisits like Halloween did in 1998 and with the Rob Zombie ones. It basically went from 1973 to now. Sure, there was The Heretic and The Beginning, but they're more akin to Halloween's Season of the Witch and Resurrection. They don't matter in the grand scheme of things. This year's film will essentially feel like a first-in-50-years sequel.

No, it won't be another IT sized hit.

IT was a (beloved) two-part early 90s TV mini-series so a glossy big cinematic event was a welcome next step.

The Exorcist - while one of the biggest films of all time has had sequels, prequels and countless similar films released over the last 50 years that have taken the shine off the franchise.

That said - I still think it will be a hit but more in the $100-$150m range pending quality, marketing etc.

could be wrong ofc but initial reaction is this is one of the dumbest investments in film ip ever

Agree completely, though legion is the best of the 4, its biggest fault was the studio turning it into an exorcist film. 4 managed a good opening despite being completely refilmed

IT was a bit of a cultural phenomenon thanks to the 90s miniseries and all of those videos of people dressed as clowns in the woods terrorizing people that went viral a year before the movie came out. There had also been very few 'murderous clown' movies since the miniseries. It's a common fear that still felt fresh in theatres.

Exorcist was a phenomenon too but is based on a much older property, and there have been SO many exorcism and religious horror movies since that it no longer feels remotely new or exciting.

I think it's definitely going well over 100 Million. So far it's the only horror movie opening in October. But I'm not going to make any real predictions until there's a trailer. The TV series was a flop but I'm sure many don't even remember there being a TV series.

The trailer was attached to Oppenheimer yesterday. It looks insane! The only trailer that got the crowd buzzing. I’m surprised this group isn’t talking about it. I for one didn’t even know about it. And Ellen Burstin is in it! Could be big

Probably not, but maybe 100-150m

This frankly looked pretty bad to me, absolutely not

The trailer looked to me, the possessed make-up looked solid. Two demon childs was a good idea to separate it from the first. I don't know about It but I think 70 mil opening like 2018 Halloween is possible.

I think the film looks like crap and it doesnt even feel like how the original was, it looks like it will be full of cheap jump scares like a lot of modern horror. The original was so effective because it was a slow burner that at times felt likeva documentry with the realistic medical stuff coming first, its the best horror film ever imo.
But i do believe this one will have a very big opening, The Exorcist is an iconic film, i would say the most infamous of alltime, maybe some moviegoers have not seen it but i bet they know about it.
Exorcist 2 and new begginibg were awful(exorcist 3 is brilliant) but people wont remember them.

I say it does 70m+ ow and of course have terrible legs.
Iys the 50th anniversery of the first, universal will have a big theme of it at halloween hortor nights, the hype will be there, atleast for a week.

70/160 my prefiction.

this trailer generated laughs at my Oppenheimer screening, this is a mega flop waiting to happen

To be fair, a lot of people at Oppenheimer probably weren't horror fans.

Definitely won't do IT numbers though. People aren't THAT excited for this one. But it should easily make over 100 Million. I think it looks surprisingly good but that doesn't seem to be the consensus. I'm curious how an audience at a horror movie would react to the trailer.

I think maybe conjuring numbers more like it. Problem is exorcism has been done to death, killer serial clown with fantastic marketing campaign, not so much. But even the bad ones open 17-30

Feels only ok to me