The Exorcist: Believer wasn’t a massive hit in theaters, but it was released at the perfect time; the lead-up to Halloween when the spooky season has most people looking for something to give them chills. Traditionally, a movie would need to choose to see its theatrical or home release during a particular window, as if a scary movie opens in theaters for Halloween, it’s going to be hitting digital platforms for Christmas. But that’s not the way things work anymore.
We have seen the theatrical exclusivity window shrink significantly in many cases. And that allows a movie like The Exorcist: Believer to essentially double dip, getting whatever boost it could expect from Halloween both for its theatrical and home release, as the movie will be out on digital platforms in time for Halloween.
Universal Pictures has announced that The Exorcist: Believer will be arriving on October 24 via digital platforms, so if you’re the type that prefers to see your scary movies from behind a blanket in your own home, we know you’re out there, you can now do that. And even if you saw Believer and didn't love it, it may still be the perfect viewing experience for a group of friends at a Halloween party.
It will certainly be interesting to see how the new Exorcist does at home, because it wasn’t a massive hit theatrically, even though it made a point to move release dates to avoid getting stomped by Taylor Swift. But reports indicate Universal still plans to produce the trilogy that had been originally conceived, rather than scrap the whole thing. Although it's certainly possible there will be changes to what the studio was originally going to do since what happened here didn’t seem to work.
Of course, if Believer is a massive hit at home, that could change things yet again. Some of the best horror movies have been one particular genre, especially at Universal, that have seemingly been used as experiments, with the studio trying different things to present them to the public. The last Halloween movie received, and this week's Five Nights at Freddy’s is also getting, a simultaneous theatrical and streaming release. While other studios have moved past that idea since the end of the pandemic, Universal has continued to use it, but almost exclusively with horror titles. Exorcist did not get that treatment for whatever reason; it still won't be on Peacock for at least a while longer. Only time will reveal if that was a misstep.
I personally thought The Exorcist: Believer was a perfectly creepy movie, perfect for the Halloween season in tone, though I admit I'm not a massive fan of the franchise. Whether other people will give this one a try or let it go by, we'll find out this week.
