‘The Exorcist: Believer’: David Gordon Green “Was Very Curious” To See What The Late William Friedkin Would Think Of His Horror Sequel

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Although it was just released in theaters at the beginning of October, the sixth installment in the “Exorcist” movie franchise is ready to stream — just in time for spooky season. Starting on Oct.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Queue, a growing app for movie and TV show tracking, reviews and recommendations with over one million downloads in the last year, has partnered with Lionsgate on a new promotion tied to the release of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.” The app is backed by notable filmmakers including Oscar and Emmy-winning producer Todd Lieberman of Hidden Pictures and filmmaker David Gordon Green. Liberman is the producer of “The Fighter” and “The Proposal,” while Green directed “Halloween” and “Pineapple Express.” The pair teamed on the drama, “Stronger.” As part of the promotion, two Hunger Games fans will get a chance to attend the red carpet fan screening of “Songbirds & Snakes.” Next week, Queue kicks off the sweepstakes. Any U.S.-based user can enter.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s an eyebrow raiser in the wake of a zany box office season turned upside down by the actors strike, and ruled by Taylor Swift: Universal/Blumhouse‘s feature take of videogame, Five Nights at Freddy’s, is shaping up for an opening around $40M. That would be the second-best opening at the fall box office YTD after Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour‘s $92.8M start. The pic hits theaters and Peacock on Oct. 27.

David Gordon Green may have made “Halloween Ends” last year, but does the “Halloween” franchise ever really end? Deadline reports that Miramax Television emerges victorious in a steep bidding war against Blumhouse Productions and A24 for the TV rights to “Halloween.” The deal with Trancas International Films allows Miramax to develop and co-produce a TV series based on the IP, including a first-look agreement on other TV projects for the international marketplace.

Miramax has prevailed in the bidding war for television rights to the “Halloween” horror franchise, meaning Michael Myers could soon be slicing and dicing his way across the small screen or assorted streaming platforms. The indie studio beat out other contenders, including A24, which was also in the mix for the rights, according to an insider with knowledge. The auction was held by Malek Akkad’s Trancas International Films, which controls the franchise’s TV rights.

EXCLUSIVE: After a heated bidding war, Miramax has scored the television rights to the hugely popular Halloween franchise, which are controlled by Trancas International Films, run by Malek Akkad.

The Halloween universe is set to expand.

As noted in this intro to a “Happy Sad Confused” conversation with David Gordon Green, the filmmaker behind “The Exorcist: Believer,” the director’s career is confusing to many. He began as an indie arthouse filmmaker (“All The Real Girls,” “Undertow“); then started directing studio comedies, many of which were produced by Judd Apatow (“Your Highness,” “The Sitter“), and then, of course, he’s gone off on his recent horror detour which has included a “Halloween” trilogy that started in 2018 and what’s intended to be a new “Exorcist” trilogy that started this year with “Believer.” The Lost, Unmade & Abandoned Projects Of Director David Gordon Green The reality is that from the very beginning, Green claims he was a cinematic omnivore who looked at Steven Soderbergh, a filmmaker who’s tackled every genre under the sun, as his guiding light model.

Alright, “Exorcist: Believer,” Universal and Blumhouse Pictures’ legacy sequel of 1973’s “The Exorcist,” directed by David Gordon Green hit theaters last weekend and the results were, well, kinda mid. Yes, it’s a legacy sequel, so much like the newest “Halloween” trilogy (also made by Green, Universal and Blumhouse), it disregards all the other sequels and essentially only takes place after the original film).

When you look at David Gordon Green’s career, it’s really difficult to nail down just what type of filmmaker he is. Does he make indie films? Comedies? Reboot horror franchises? Yes, yes, and yes.

The Garbage Pail Kids animated series that David Gordon Green was developing with Danny McBride and Josh Bycel is not dead yet.

Refresh for latest…: Just as it came in lower than hoped for domestically, Universal/Blumhouse/Morgan Creek’s The Exorcist: Believer didn’t fully convert overseas audiences, summoning a $17.9M international box office debut for $45.1M global. The R-rated David Gordon Green-directed reboot/sequel did see some of its 52 launch markets give it a No. 1 start, while in like-for-likes, the bow is above M3GAN, Evil Dead Rise, Scream VI and Smile. (As regards the latter, recall that it legged out with terrific holds, so the comparison may not stick down the line since scores on Believer are not good, and Taylor Swift is on deck.) 

J. Kim Murphy Nearly 50 years after William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” landed in theaters to leg out a run as the highest-grossing feature of 1973, a new sequel to it is opening on top of the box office. Universal’s “The Exorcist: Believer” compelled audiences to the tune of an $11.9 million opening day from 3,663 locations, a number including $2.85 million in previews.

release of “The Exorcist: Believer,” filmgoers will once again witness young, possessed girls blaspheming, shrieking and levitating as their parents try to wrest a godless demon from their bodies.What they likely won’t see, however, is their fellow audience members fainting, vomiting and fleeing the theater in terror. That chaotic scene was what was widely reported to have happened all over the world when “The Exorcist” hit theaters nearly 50 years ago in December 1973.In early 1974, a security guard at a Midtown East cinema described screenings of the horror flick to the New York Times.

the 1954 big-screen classic starring Humphrey Bogart as Lieutenant Commander Philip Queeg, he of the nervously-twirled metal balls and questionable sanity.The movie premieres Oct. 6 on Paramount+ with Showtime (paramountplus.qflm.net/9WG5D0) — and Oct. 8 on Showtime (9 p.m.) — and features an all-star cast, including Kiefer Sutherland as Queeg and the late Lance Reddick, all of whom deliver bravura performances.

David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer kept the horror peace train going at the box office with $2.85M in previews last night on its way to a potential high $20M to $30M start at the box office.

By this point, with advance reviews, it’s clear that critics aren’t high on David Gordon Green‘s new horror reboot, “The Exorcist: Believer.” So, sorry to fans of the series, but this isn’t the long-awaited sequel that will boost its cultural cache. But if fans and audiences won’t get what they want from “The Exorcist: Believer,” did anyone on the cast and crew? READ MORE: Jason Blum On ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ Release Date Change: “We Bowed Our Heads To Taylor Swift” According to a new THR interview with Ellyn Burstyn, the 90-year-old actress did.

There are myriad talking entry points to “Exorcist: Believer”—David Gordon Green’s latest horror legacy sequel and the follow-up to his “Halloween” trilogy. For one, it’s awful, but it’s also fascinating, chock-full of thought-provoking ideas— impossible to fully disregard even when the film goes off the rails.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic The sequels — or, in two cases, prequels — to “The Exorcist” have all been unqualified turkeys. There is now a movement at hand to declare that John Boorman’s crackpot insect-swarm fantasia “Exorcist II: The Heretic” (1977) was some sort of misunderstood masterpiece, but that’s an act of revisionism every bit as loony tunes as “Heaven’s Gate” revisionism.

In the long history of horror films since the dawn of cinema, it would be hard to imagine any of them quite having the particular impact of 1973’s The Exorcist which became the first horror film ever to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, along with nine other nominations including Best Actress for Ellen Burstyn. It eventually won two Academy Awards for William Peter Blatty’s screenplay based on his 1971 novel, and for the bone chilling Sound work. When I saw it as a young kid in its original incarnation at the National Theatre in Westwood (now no longer existing), there were lines like you have never seen wrapping completely around the block. Warner Bros. even put a nurse on duty in the lobby for those who passed out, no mere gimmick because it actually happened. Nothing I have seen since in the genre has matched that one for me, but it wasn’t for Hollywood not trying. There are countless imitations, even a couple of failed direct sequels including the dreadful 1977 followup, Exorcist II: The Heretic, and the forgettable Exorcist III: Legion in 1990. There have been TV series attempts, an origin angle with Exorcist: The Beginning in 2004, and countless others using the come-on Exorcist in their title. Earlier this year we even had another film, based on the Vatican’s longtime real life demon slayer, The Pope’s Exorcist which thanks to a dedicated performance by Russell Crowe worked quite well on its own terms