Despite some genuinely horrible reviews from critics and fans alike, The Exorcist: Believer saw a franchise best debut of $28 million.

The Exorcist: Believer saw a first weekend take of $27.2 million, coming in under even the most modest of projections, including our own low end $30 million prediction, yet still having the best opening of the franchise. That number represents a near $10 million improvement over the last theatrically released Exorcist film: 2004’s Exorcist: The Beginning ($18 million). That’s the good news, the bad news is that even with a franchise best opening and a reported budget of just $30 million before advertising, this opening is still a fairly sizable disappointment for the studio.

This film has gotten some absolutely horrendous reviews, including a 4/10 from our own Chris Bumbray who called it “awful.” Those reviews mixed with its horrible 54% audience score means this one will likely sink in the coming weeks. That is not what Universal needs from this film as they reportedly shelled out $400 million to retain the rights to the Exorcist franchise with hopes that a new trilogy could cover those costs. Surely the studio and producer Jason Blum thought they could recreate the success of 2018’s Halloween which garnered fairly solid reviews that translated into a $76.2 million opening on its way to a $159.3 million domestic total and a $259.9 million worldwide take.

All eyes will be on how much of a tumble this one takes next week, but with horrible reviews, bad word of mouth and a highly anticipated movie coming to theaters next week (Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour which has broken a number of records already before even opening), you can expect this one to take a Halloween Ends level fall (that movie lost 80% of its audience in its second week). Perhaps this one will play better at home when it hits Peacock in 45 days as the day and date releases of Halloween Kills/Ends were big hits for the streamer.

Spots two through five go to Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie which lost 48% of its audience with a $11.7 million second week while Saw X benefitted from its stellar reviews (the best reviewed movie in the entire franchise) and saw just a 55% drop in its audience for a second week take of $8.1 million. Films like these tend to have second week drops in the 60% range, so this is a better than expected hold for the Tobin Bell fronted film. Coming in fourth place with a 56% drop in its second week is The Creator with just $6.1 million. As we said last week, despite many audience members not finding this particular piece of IP to be a modern sci fi classic, studios should not be dissuaded from taking on original ideas in the future. I enjoy a comic book film as much as the next person, but nothing can ever top the first time I saw The Matrix in theaters and was absolutely blown away by something I had never ever experienced before. Experiences like that can go away if all we get are sequels and remakes. Coming in fifth place with $3.1 million is the The Blind which follows the faith based story of Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson.

Spots six through nine go to your holdover titles such as A Haunting in Venice with $2.7 million followed by The Nun II which took a larger than expected tumble this week with $2.5 million, likely due to the addition of The Exorcist: Believer targeting a similar audience. Eighth place goes to Dumb Money which actually saw a decent hold, only losing 35% of its audience for a $2.1 million weekend. I can not sing the praises of this film enough and wish more people would have made it out to theaters to see it, but hopefully those who didn’t think a trip to their local multiplex was worth it for this stock market based film will make the time when it eventually hits home video. Ninth place goes to the Denzel Washington trilogy capper The Equalizer 3 with an additional $1.8 million. Rounding out the top ten is the 30th anniversary re-release of Hocus Pocus with an estimated weekend take of $1.5 million added to its lifetime gross of over $46 million.

Outside of the top ten but earning a respectable 31.5 thousand per screen average for a weekend take of $220,800 is the Larry Charles directed Dicks: The Musical.

What do you make of The Exorcist: Believer’s opening? Do you think it will have a massive drop next week? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to check out our weekly poll where we ask What is your favorite horror film released in the past 2 years?

David Gordon Green may sit out of directing the remainder of The Exorcist trilogy, as other projects may catch his attention.

Even as The Exorcist: Believer gets panned by critics and looks to be one of the craziest gambles ever by a movie studio – Universal shelled out $400 million for the rights – director David Gordon Green may avoid helming the rest of the planned trilogy. But his decision may have less to do with its reception than just how he operates.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, David Gordon Green said it’s quite possible that he’ll get sucked into another project instead of directing more Exorcist movies. “My intention is just to start making things, and as those plans come together, if I find myself in that [The Exorcist: Deceiver] director’s chair, I’d be thrilled… But right now, I’m navigating it from a story perspective and looking at my realities of life as I pivot.” He added, “One of the things that’s been really great between these horror franchises is doing that comedy series on HBO, The Righteous Gemstones. So it’s fun to be able to step away, take a deep breath, have a big laugh, and then get back to work in the genre.”

Even though he directed all three films in the recent Halloween trilogy – which got progressively worse, so that doesn’t bode well for The Exorcist films – David Gordon Green considering opting out of the remainder of this franchise isn’t all that much of a surprise. After all, Green tends to go with whatever catches his attention, resulting in one of the strangest career trajectories in all of movies. From his beginnings as an indie darling with films like George Washington (please watch this if you haven’t) and Undertow to directing stoner comedies like Pineapple Express and Your Highness to a serving as horror franchise resurrector (and whatever he was going for with Our Brand Is Crisis), Green has consistently defied expectations.

Under David Gordon Green, The Exorcist: Believer had a mixture of promise and skepticism leading to its release. But as it stands, it holds a 23% on Rotten Tomatoes, with our own Chris Bumbray giving it a 4/10 and ranking it just ahead of Exorcist II: The Heretic, which is certainly no compliment.

Do you want to see The Exorcist trilogy continue? Could it be better without David Goron Green behind the camera? Give us your take in the comments section below.

Larry Charles, who turned the $18 million Borat into a $260+ million success, thinks studios should be ashamed of excessive budgets.

With Larry Charles’ latest movie, Dicks: The Musical now out, the director has laid out just why he is keeping his budgets low. And no, it has nothing to do with studios refusing to pony up for dicks or musicals.

Appearing on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast last week, Larry Charles expressed his disdain for studios giving certain movies outlandish budgets. “Politically for me, ethically for me, I find it offensive when movies cost $250 million and the world is in the state that it’s in. So I’m also looking to make a statement in the way these things are made.” Larry Charles further defended his take by saying, “We have such a media monopoly system here that that in itself is kind of an authoritarian Big Brother sort of thing that we — they’ve figured out over the years, they don’t have to make you, they don’t have to scare you, they have to seduce you. So we’re all seduced by great TV shows and great movies, and we’re distracted by those things, and we’re then indulging in that same capitalist system and there’s no way it’s going to change as long as we do that… I struggle with that.” For what it’s worth, five movies released so far this year have had budgets of at least $250 million and we’d love to see the look on Larry Charles’ face when he hears that Fast X was pegged at $340 million — that’s almost 20 Borats!

Larry Charles has made his post-Seinfeld/Curb Your Enthusiasm career out of stories and styles that typically don’t require large budgets, with his highest being The Dictator‘s $65 million. (His other Sacha Baron Cohen collaborations, Brüno and Borat, cost $42 million and $18 million, respectively; he did not direct Borat’s sequel) Still, even with modest budgets, Larry Charles knows the studio is always keeping the box office in mind. “The way I can make a radical work is by saying that I could do it for a little money, and the way [producers] say yes to it is they think, ‘Oh, that radical little work that’s not going to cost any money is going to make money.’ Absolutely. That is the system.”

Outside of Dicks: The Musical, Larry Charles may helm a sequel to the Bill Maher-led Religulous.

Do you agree or disagree with Larry Charles’ statements about overblown budgets? Give us your take in the comments section below.

Lil Rel Howery may be starring, but The Mill is anything but comedic with its biting take down of corporations and unhealthy work life.

PLOT: A businessman mysteriously wakes up in an open-air prison cell with only an old grist mill. Forced to work as a beast of burden, he must find a way to escape before the birth of his child.

REVIEW: It’s easy to set your expectations for a certain level of comedy when you see a film starring Lil Rel Howery. But that would be a mistake when it comes to The Mill as this is anything but a comedy. It’s clear Howery really wanted to make a legitimate horror film with a modern bend to it. Waking up in a mysterious mill, Joe Stevens (Lil Rel) is forced to push an old grist mill or face the consequences. The tactics of motivation are manipulative and can be pretty brutal. As someone with a bad back, I was constantly re-adjusting in my seat at the sheer stress put onto Joe’s back; sometimes figuratively but oftentimes literally.

I absolutely loved the messaging of The Mill with it really going after corporations. Unhealthy work and life balance seems to often be praised and this really highlights the absurdity of it all. The things that are missed that really matter, are all done in the service of corporate overlords. There’s an element that feels almost pulled from Squid Games, with its setting feeling like it could have been a game in the series. The larger-than-life Corporation in control of it all, Mallard, could be a stand-in for so many real-life organizations. And the near future setting helps to keep ambiguity in the proceedings. Even still, they never go too far with it, and it manages to feel grounded.

With this, it makes Joe really easy to root for. Lil Rel absolutely anchors the film, being the primary person on screen for 90% of it. He’s still playing a character you would expect from him but far less jokey. I was really impressed with what he brought to the table. I love how many actors have really been embracing the horror genre lately and Howery seems to be amongst them, even serving as a producer here. Pat Healy had one of the best guest roles in the final season of Better Call Saul, and he continues to be a highlight even with brief screen time. His role is complex and will always keep you guessing. He’s the only person for Howery to play off of, so this duality helps the overall picture.

I also feel like I need to make sure to point out that there’s no excessive violence here. The trailers might have you believe that there’s a Saw-like element at play here but it really doesn’t go that far. Some of the visual language certainly falls under the Saw umbrella but otherwise, there’s nothing that goes too far. If anything, this is a different kind of torture and it works very well.

I feel a lot of people are going to be able to relate to a lot of the struggles going on here. Everyone has had a boss who treats them like a number and not a person. With Workers’ Rights being such a talking point over the last few years, The Mill feels like it’s coming at the right time. I’m sure the third-act revelation will turn some folks off, but I felt it landed the messaging even harder. And it’s got one of the most satisfying cut-to-credits out there. The Mill may be the biggest surprise of October (which has heavy competition with Totally Killer). Unless they’re given a theatrical release, Hulu Horror films often miss the mark, so I went into this with very low expectations. Thankfully this provided a smart and poignant thriller that really takes aim at a lot of issues going on in society today.

THE MILL IS STREAMING ON HULU EVERYWHERE ON OCTOBER 9TH, 2023.

8

The Creator is the latest from filmmaker Gareth Edwards. It’s a bold new sci-fi feature that examines the relationship between humanity and AI. Setting this fascinating story in the future with such fantastical elements offers up an impressive effort from Edwards. The film stars John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, and Sturgill Simpson, as well as a terrific performance from Allison Janney. It is a thought-provoking look at a subject matter that continues to make headlines, with a sci-fi twist thrown in.

We recently had the great pleasure of sitting down with Gareth in person. The filmmaker discussed why he took on this particular story. As well, the relevance of it has undoubtedly become far more fitting as of late. He opened up about that and continued to work in the world of science fiction. One of the best things about the film is the performance of young Madeleine Yuan Voyles as Alphie. Mr. Edwards talks about bringing her into this incredible world. The Creator opens this weekend at a theatre near you, and you can check out Chris Bumbray’s review here.

Here’s the synopsis: As a future war between the human race and artificial intelligence rages on, ex-special forces agent Joshua is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI. The Creator has developed a mysterious weapon that has the power to end the war and all of mankind. As Joshua and his team of elite operatives venture into enemy-occupied territory, they soon discover the world-ending weapon is actually an AI in the form of a young child.

A red band teaser trailer gives a preview of some bloody action from writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of The Toxic Avenger

The red band teaser trailer for writer/director Macon Blair’s remake of the Troma cult classic The Toxic Avenger (watch it HERE) made its way online this morning – and now you can check it out in the embed above! Don’t expect to see much more of Toxie himself than we’ve already seen in the shadowy publicity still… but it does show some of the gory damage he does to evil-doers.

This movie may have a much larger budget than the previous Toxie films, but it does look like Blair was able to retain the Troma tone and sense of humor.

Blair’s version of The Toxic Avenger stars Peter Dinklage as Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

Dinklage is joined in the cast by Kevin Bacon as villainous corporate overlord Bob Garbinger; Elijah Wood as Bob’s brother Fritz Garbinger, who is described as “sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together”; a group of lunatics / musicians called the Killer Nutz, who are “a rock and roll group where their presentation is theatrical evil, like KISS or Alice Cooper, but their moonlight gig is professional assassins”; Taylour Paige as investigative reporter / vigilante detective JJ Doherty; Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson Wade; Jonny Coyne as a “shadowy criminal figure”; Sarah Niles as a “corrupt city official”; Julia Davis as an unspecified character; and Blair as a guy named Dennis.

The Toxic Avenger remake was filmed in Bulgaria. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz produced with Legendary Entertainment. The film has received an R rating for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, sexual references and brief graphic nudity“ – and the gore includes a moment that has been referred to as “the butt guts scene“.

What did you think of the red band teaser trailer for The Toxic Avenger remake? Let us know by leaving a comment below.