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'Exorcist' takes possession of N.America box office

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A scene from “The Exorcist: Believer." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/overseas/10/09/the-exorcist.jpg"/><figcaption>A scene from “The Exorcist: Believer.&quot; <em>Handout</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>LOS ANGELES, United States - Fifty years after the original, newly released &quot;The Exorcist: Believer&quot; topped the North American box office this weekend with an estimated $27.2 million in ticket sales, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Sunday.</p><p>Analyst David A. Gross called that &quot;a good opening for a horror sequel,&quot; the best of any of the &quot;Exorcist&quot; movies, despite what he said were poor reviews and lukewarm audience scores for Blumhouse and Universal&#x27;s Halloween-timed film.</p><p>Like the original, &quot;Believer&quot; features possessed victims convulsing, covered in sores and speaking in tongues. It also has a decidedly interfaith exorcism. Leslie Odom Jr. and Ann Dowd star, with an appearance by Ellen Burstyn from the 1973 original.</p><p>&quot;Believer&quot; was to have opened on Friday the 13th, but the studio moved up its release to avoid conflicting with the release that day of &quot;Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,&quot; a concert film certain to generate big numbers, Variety reported.</p><p>Last weekend&#x27;s box office leader, Paramount&#x27;s family-friendly &quot;Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie,&quot; slipped slightly to second, at $11.8 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period.</p><p>The Paw pups, using new superpowers as they fight to protect their city, are voiced by actors Taraji P. Henson, Chris Rock, Serena Williams and McKenna Grace.</p><p>In third, also down one spot, is Lionsgate&#x27;s horror flick &quot;Saw X,&quot; at $8.2 million. This latest in the &quot;Saw&quot; series, again with Tobin Bell as the infamous Jigsaw, has received strongly positive reviews.</p><p>The fourth spot, down from third, went to 20th Century sci-fi thriller &quot;The Creator,&quot; at $6.1 million. John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe and Allison Janney play humans in a world at war with artificial intelligence.</p><p>Holding steady in fifth was Fathom Events&#x27; faith-based movie &quot;The Blind,&quot; at $3.1 million. It portrays the real-life struggles of swamp-dwelling reality TV star Phil Robertson with addiction and romance.</p><div><strong>Rounding out the top 10 were:</strong></div><p>&quot;A Haunting in Venice&quot; ($2.7 million)</p><p>&quot;The Nun II&quot; ($2.6 million)</p><p>&quot;Dumb Money&quot; ($2.2 million)</p><p>&quot;The Equalizer 3&quot; ($1.8 million)</p><p>&quot;Hocus Pocus: 30th Anniversary&quot; ($1.5 million)</p><div><strong>bbk/mdl</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7kNX0NDa67I?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Fifty years after the original, newly released 'The Exorcist: Believer' topped the North American box office this weekend with an estimated $27.2 million in ticket sales, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Sunday.