The Exorcist: Believer Trivia | 60 facts about the horror film

“The Exorcist: Believer” marks a new installment in the horror franchise and a direct sequel to the classic Oscar-winning film.

So let’s find out some trivia and facts about the horror film.

1. The Exorcist: Believer is a 2023 American supernatural horror film
2. The film is directed by David Gordon Green
3. Green co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Sattler
4. From a story by Scott Teems, Danny McBride, and Green
5. It serves as a direct sequel to The Exorcist (1973)
6. It marks the sixth installment in The Exorcist film series
7. Disregarding all previous installments
8. The film stars Leslie Odom Jr., Ann Dowd, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Lidya Jewett, and Olivia Marcum
9. Along with Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair reprising their roles from the original film as Chris MacNeil and Regan MacNeil, respectively
10. Its plot follows a photographer who must confront the nadir of evil when his daughter and her best friend are possessed
11. Jason Blum served as a producer on the film through his Blumhouse Productions banner
12. Alongside David C. and James G. Robinson through their Morgan Creek Entertainment banner
13. In association with executive producers Green and McBride’s Rough House Pictures
14. The project began as sequel to the original film in December 2020
15. Universal Pictures collaborated with Peacock to acquire distribution rights in June 2021 for $400 million
16. With intentions of launching a new trilogy of The Exorcist films
17. Principal photography took place between November 2022 and March 2023
18. The film was made on a production budget of $30 million
19. The Exorcist: Believer was released in the United States on October 6, 2023
20. The film received generally negative reviews from critics
21. Critics collectively believe it failed to reach the height and impact of the original film
22. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 23% rating
23. Based on 176 critics’ reviews
24. With an average rating of 4.5/10
25. The website’s consensus reads: “The Exorcist: Believer earns points for trying to take the franchise back to its terrifying roots, but a lack of new ideas — and scares — make this an inauspicious start to a planned new trilogy”
26. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 39 out of 100
27. Based on 51 critics
28. Indicating “generally unfavorable” reviews
29. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “C” on an A+ to F scale
30. While those polled by PostTrak gave it a 61% positive score
31. A sequel, entitled The Exorcist: Deceiver, is scheduled to be released on April 18, 2025
32. In August 2020, it was reported that Morgan Creek Entertainment would be producing a new installment in The Exorcist franchise
33. A tentative theatrical release window of 2021 was planned by the studio
34. Ben Pearson of Slash Film noted that the studio had previously stated that it would “never attempt to remake The Exorcist”
35. But that it would also obtain the “blessings of their library titles’ original creators before they move forward with new entries”
36. In December 2020, it was clarified that the project in development would be a sequel to the original film, with David Gordon Green in early negotiations to serve as director
37. Jason Blum, David Robinson, and James Robinson serve as producers
38. In July 2021, it was reported that a trilogy of sequels were concurrently in development with Green hired to direct the first of the new installments, from a script he co-wrote with Peter Sattler, from an original story he co-wrote with Scott Teems and Danny McBride
39. Green, McBride, Couper Samuelson and Stephanie Allain serve as executive producers
40. Prior to acquiring the series’ rights from Morgan Creek Entertainment, the writing team and Blum spent early 2020 devising the story over Zoom.
41. The projects are joint-venture productions between Blumhouse Productions and Morgan Creek Entertainment with Universal Pictures distributing
42. Universal collaborated with Peacock to purchase distribution rights for $400 million total
43. Parts two and three of the trilogy were optioned as potential Peacock exclusive films
44. By October 2021, Green expressed his intentions to direct all three films, with script outlines completed for the latter two films that he co-wrote with Sattler
45. Ellen Burstyn reprised her role as Chris MacNeil from the original film
46. With Leslie Odom Jr. co-starring as a father who tracks down Chris to help his possessed child
47. Ann Dowd, Lidya Jewett, Olivia Marcum and Okwui Okpokwasili were also cast
48. Raphael Sbarge joined the cast as a pastor
49. Jennifer Nettles has a “primary role” in the film
50. In early 2022, Burstyn stated that she had completed production for her part in the film
51. Though Green had previously stated that he would begin work on the sequel after completing Halloween Ends (2022), given the actress’ age and the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic
52. The production team worked with Burstyn to make sure they had her part completed for the film
53. Linda Blair, who portrayed Regan MacNeil in the first film, was an “advisor” on set
54. Green stated to Total Film that “I was really lucky to have [Blair] read the script, but she was not interested in a significant role and stepping back into that. We brought her in as an advisor because we’re dealing with young people, and we want to take them to dangerous places safely”
55. On a production budget of $30 million, principal photography began in November 2022, in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia
56. Burstyn was brought in that month for reshoots
57. In mid-December, production was shut down early for the holidays after Odom had an “unspecified health issue”
58. Filming concluded in early March 2023
59. In the United States and Canada, The Exorcist: Believer is projected to gross $30-36 million from 3,663 theaters its opening weekend
60. The film made $11.9 million on its first day, including $2.8 million from Thursday night previews