The Exorcist Franchise

[M.10rda]

  I don't understand a lick of movie math these days... break that down for me. Is it good news because it's almost broken even or bad news because they needed it to gross over $430 million dollars in order to begin to see a profit?

[Neville]

Since this thread reminded me of Schrader's ill-fated "Dominion", I re-watched it last night. And I have to admit I found it quite enjoyable. It just happens to be a sort of exotic religious drama rather than a horror movie with spinning heads, which explains the studio's extreme reaction.



Not that it is some sort of lost masterpiece or anything. It's certainly one of Schrader's weaker efforts and it has costed him years to bounce back from the whole thing. Even in its final form, it's a film that feels rather incomplete, and many scenes feature some of the worst CGI I've ever seen. It seems that Schrader had to sue Morgan Creek to get his version of the movie released, and in retaliation they gave him close to zero dollars for post-production.



I now wonder if I should re-watch Renny Harlin's version to get a clearer picture of the fiasco, but I remember it being mind-numbingly awful.

As for the new film... I know it's fun to mock Hollywood, and it wouldn't hurt that they stopped cranking up endless sequels to classics, but I think we should wait until we see it. Who knows, maybe it doesn't turn out to be THAT bad.

[Alex]

The Beginning came on tv last night. Didn't seem especially terrible and even had some ok performances. With the makeup on the possessed woman though I kept thinking "She looks like she is a Deadite from Evil Dead".

[Neville]

I only remember that it had loads of gore, and that the exorcism involved more hand-to-hand combat that some of Steven Seagal's movies.

[Alex]

I wouldn't say it was a film worth seeking out for a rewatch. Just kind of a standard horror film.

[Trevor]

I only remember that it had loads of gore, and that the exorcism involved more hand-to-hand combat that some of Steven Seagal's movies.

[claws]

I don't understand a lick of movie math these days... break that down for me. Is it good news because it's almost broken even or bad news because they needed it to gross over $430 million dollars in order to begin to see a profit?

Universal and Blumhouse bought the franchise rights for a trilogy from Morgan Creek back in July 2021 for $400M. If they want their money back + profit all three movies have to kick a$$ at the box office. Though there's still streaming and home video, so they might pull in a decent amount of money from that.

[M.10rda]

Got it, Claws, thanks. After I posted my somewhat snarky request I reflected on it and realized they planned to make a whole bunch of EXORCIST movies for their $400 million, but of course if this one tanks badly and everyone hates it, maybe they won't make more. Oh who am I kidding, of course they'll make more, no matter what.......

[Trevor]

The Exorcist Believer is quite good but that ending: oy  

[claws]

Domestic (52.9%)
$44,926,950
International (47.1%)
$40,037,000
Worldwide
$84,963,950

Approaching $90m worldwide in its 2nd week. Haters call it underperforming, supporters call it a hit. I'd say they are off to a good start. I will eventually check this out when available to watch at home.

[Neville]

I finally gave it a chance. Not good. If I didn't know better, I'd think the film was made by people who don't understand the horror genre or the Exorcist series. Despite this, I sort of enjoyed it at first. It's nothing groundbreaking and there's a general lack of scares, but I found it tolerable. The real problem arrives when we reach the exorcism stage and the film is no yet scary. And for some reason political correctness made its way into the climax as well, with priests from different denominations and even a voodoo... priestess? lady? doing their thing in unison.

I normally don't care when people criticise contemporary films for being "woke", but this was ridiculous. I mean, if help against demons is so widely available, where's the threat? It was funnier when the Catholic church had to send somebody from the other end of the world.

[RCMerchant]

^ I'm not hyped for it at all. Exorsicm movies are not good even in a BAD way anymore. Gimme back the 70's with stuff like BEYOND THE DOOR (1974) or ABBY (1974).

[M.10rda]

It's nothing groundbreaking and there's a general lack of scares, but I found it tolerable. The real problem arrives when we reach the exorcism stage and the film is no yet scary.

Still haven't seen the new one thus can have no opinion, and have generally tried to keep my dumb unpopular opinions about the original out of this thread.

Just 'cause you mentioned it, though, the "real problem" you cite w/ this new film is the same problem I have w/ the original.   Saw it as a child (sub-10) and thought it was long, slow, and then only mildly exciting at the end. In adulthood I revisited it (around the time of the re-release), presuming I'd been too young to appreciate a masterfully subtle horror film in childhood. Although I found the exposition more tense and involving, I honestly find the eponymous climax to be....... laughably stagey and unfrightening. Alas, perhaps this is where the Horror genre becomes largely subjective: if you can watch THE EXORCIST and feel scared, it's "scary" to you, and otherwise, it just isn't, and thus it fails to work.

Whatever else I expect from the new entry, good or bad, I won't expect to be scared.......

[Neville]

Well, fear it's a very personal thing. Just like the stuff that makes you laugh or your sexuality. It doesn't get more personal than that.

Still, "The Exorcist" is widely considered to be a terrifying movie, even by today's standards. It's been years since I last saw it, but it has scared me s**tless in past occasions. So far the only one in the series that has lived up to the reputation of the original is part III. "Dominion" is interesting, but in its present state it's more a work in progress than a finished film.

[Archivist]

From what I vaguely recall as a child, The Exorcist played on TV in Australia in the late 70s and was definitely Not For Children(tm). It has been decades since its release, and I've never watched any of the franchise, although I kind of recognize parodies and homages when I see them, like the exorcism scene in The Boondocks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06cVE9lD5WE