'The Exorcist: Believer' Producer 'Scared to Death' of Box Office Showdown With Taylor Swift's Movie

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Filmmaker Jason Blum books a new release date for 'The Exorcist' sequel in order to avoid a box office face-off with the upcoming documentary about 'Eras' tour.

Sep 30, 2023

AceShowbiz - Jason Blum feels "scared to death" of Taylor Swift. The 54-year-old producer's Blumhouse Productions have announced the decision to move the release of "The Exorcist: Believer" a week earlier to October 6 after the "Shake It Off" singer announced her "Eras" concert film would hit cinemas on October 13, and Jason explained it was "too risky" to hope viewers would take a chance on an "ExorSwift" double bill.

"The one thing that scares me to death is Taylor Swift! We had this amazing Friday the 13th in October, which is the single best day to release a scary movie," he told Entertainment Weekly.

"Obviously, we moved off that [date] and we bowed our head to Taylor Swift. It was too risky to see if 'Exorswift' was going to take or not. People will still have the Exorswift opportunity, so maybe we got to have our cake and eat it, too."

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"The Exorcist: Believer]" is a continuation of the iconic horror franchise and Jason warned people to "be prepared" before they see the film because it's just as chilling as the 1973 original. He said, "The people who have seen it have said it checks all the boxes of the original and that you come out kind of shaken, so be prepared."

Ellen Burstyn returns to the series for the first time since William Friedkin's original film to reprise her role as Chris MacNeil, and Jason credited director David Gordon Green for bringing her on board. He said, "I really give David Gordon Green credit for that. He was able to get Jamie Lee Curtis comfortable [on 2018's 'Halloween'], and David got Ellen to feel comfortable to join us in this iteration of her iconic movie."

Producer Ryan Turek added, "Where Jamie Lee Curtis will come in, kicking the door down and getting to know everybody, Ellen kind of floated in. We were very respectful and just made sure that everyone was on their A game."