The Exorcist: Believer Winning Opening Weekend at Box Office Despite Underperforming

David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer is set to win its opening weekend at the box office, though it is coming in under projections. The Exorcist: Believer, the first film to come out of Blumhouse’s pricey acquisition of the rights to The Exorcist, will earn around $28 million in its first weekend after having been projected for $30 million. The film earned $12 million on its first day (with previews). The Exorcist: Believer is fighting against a poor reception: the movie has only a 23% positive score on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes and an audience score that isn’t much better.

ComicBook.com’s Kofi Outlaw felt similarly, awarding only two stars to The Exorcist: Believer in his review. He writes, “The Exorcist: Believer feels like it will go down as an odd and misguided attempt at a direct sequel – one that fails to provide any new soul to the franchise.”

Last weekend’s winner, Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, will end up in second place this weekend. Saw X will likely land in third place, with The Creator and The Nun 2 rounding out this weekend’s top five films at the box office. The list of top films at the box office this weekend follows.

1. The Exorcist: Believer

• Opening Weekend
• Total: $28 million

When his daughter, Angela, and her friend Katherine, show signs of demonic possession, it unleashes a chain of events that forces single father Victor Fielding to confront the nadir of evil. Terrified and desperate, he seeks out Chris MacNeil, the only person alive who’s witnessed anything like it before.

2. Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie

• Week Two
• Weekend: $11.65 million
• Total: $38.7 million
  

The PAW Patrol pups magically gain superpowers after a meteor strikes Adventure City. However, things take a turn for the worse when Humdinger and a mad scientist steal their powers and turn themselves into supervillains. As the team springs into action to save the city, Skye soon learns that even the smallest pup can make the biggest difference.

Cal Brunker directed PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie and co-wrote the screenplay with Bob Barlen. The film’s voice cast includes Christian Corrao, Luxton Handspiker, Callum Shoniker, Ron Pardo, Mckenna Grace, Taraji P. Henson, Marsai Martin, Christian Convery, Kim Kardashian, North West, Saint West, James Marsden, Kristen Bell, and Finn Lee-Epp.

3. Saw X

• Week Two
• Weekend: $8 million
• Total: $32.4 million
  

Hoping for a miraculous cure, John Kramer travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure, only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. Armed with a newfound purpose, the infamous serial killer uses deranged and ingenious traps to turn the tables on the con artists.

Kevin Greutert directed Saw X from a screenplay by Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger. It stars Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Renata Vaca, and Michael Beach.

4. The Creator

• Week Two
• Weekend: $6.12 million
• Total: $24.9 million
  

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.

Gareth Edwards directed The Creator and co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Weitz. It stars John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson, Allison Janney, and Madeleine Yuna Voyles.

5. The Nun II

• Week Five
• Weekend: $2.6 million
• Total: $81 million

In 1956 France, a priest is violently murdered, and Sister Irene begins to investigate. She once again comes face-to-face with a powerful evil.

Michael Chaves directed The Nun II from a screenplay by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and Akela Cooper, based on a story by Cooper. It stars Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Bonnie Aarons, Storm Reid, and Anna Popplewell.