Production Budget Analysis

What was the production budget for The Exorcist: Believer?

Directed by David Gordon Green, with Leslie Odom Jr., Lidya Jewett, Olivia O'Neill leading the cast, The Exorcist: Believer was produced by Universal Pictures with a confirmed budget of $30,000,000, placing it in the low-budget category for horror films as part of the The Exorcist Collection.

With a $30,000,000 budget, The Exorcist: Believer sits in the mid-range of studio releases. Marketing costs for a wide release at this level typically add $30–60 million, putting the break-even point near $75,000,000.

Budget Comparison — Similar Productions

• A Hologram for the King (2016): Budget $30,000,000 | Gross $9,169,507 → ROI: -69% • A Lot Like Love (2005): Budget $30,000,000 | Gross $42,886,719 → ROI: 43% • Big Momma's House (2000): Budget $30,000,000 | Gross $173,959,438 → ROI: 480% • Crazy Rich Asians (2018): Budget $30,000,000 | Gross $238,539,198 → ROI: 695% • Doomsday (2008): Budget $30,000,000 | Gross $22,472,631 → ROI: -25%

Key Budget Allocation Categories

▸ Practical Effects, Prosthetics & Makeup Horror productions invest disproportionately in practical effects — prosthetic applications, animatronics, blood and gore effects, and creature suits. A single hero creature suit can cost $50,000–200,000.

▸ Atmospheric Production Design & Cinematography Creating dread through environment is essential. Abandoned locations must be secured and dressed, lighting rigs designed for shadow and tension, and sets built to enable specific camera movements and reveals.

▸ Sound Design & Score Horror is arguably the most sound-dependent genre. Foley work, ambient textures, frequency manipulation, and jump-scare stingers require specialized sound designers working with unconventional techniques.

Key Production Personnel

CAST: Leslie Odom Jr., Lidya Jewett, Olivia O'Neill, Ann Dowd, Jennifer Nettles Key roles: Leslie Odom Jr. as Victor Fielding; Lidya Jewett as Angela Fielding; Olivia O'Neill as Katherine West; Ann Dowd as Nurse Ann Brooks

DIRECTOR: David Gordon Green CINEMATOGRAPHY: Michael Simmonds MUSIC: David Wingo, Amman Abbasi EDITING: Timothy Alverson PRODUCTION: Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Morgan Creek Entertainment, Rough House Pictures FILMED IN: United States of America

Box Office Performance

The Exorcist: Believer earned $65,537,395 domestically and $71,460,674 internationally, for a worldwide total of $136,998,069. Revenue was split 48% domestic / 52% international.

Break-Even Analysis

Using the industry-standard 2.5x multiplier (P&A + exhibitor shares of 40–50% + distribution fees), The Exorcist: Believer needed approximately $75,000,000 to break even. The film surpassed this threshold by $61,998,069.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Revenue: $136,998,069 Budget: $30,000,000 Net: $106,998,069 ROI: 356.7%

Profitability Assessment

VERDICT: Highly Profitable

The Exorcist: Believer was a clear financial success, generating $136,998,069 worldwide against a $30,000,000 production budget — a 357% ROI. After estimated marketing costs, the film still delivered substantial profit to Universal Pictures.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

Franchise: The Exorcist: Believer is part of the The Exorcist Collection.

The outsized success of The Exorcist: Believer likely influenced studio greenlight decisions for similar horror projects.

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Casting

Ellen Burstyn reprised her role as Chris MacNeil from the original film, with Leslie Odom Jr. co-starring as a father who tracks down Chris to help his possessed child. Raphael Sbarge joined the cast as a pastor. Jennifer Nettles has a "primary role" in the film. Helen Leahey was cast as the main voice of the demon.

▸ Filming & Locations

In February 2022, Burstyn stated that she had completed production for her part in the film. 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, the production team worked with Burstyn to make sure they had her part completed for the film. Linda Blair, who portrayed Regan MacNeil in the first film, was an "advisor" on set. 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".

On a production budget of $30 million, principal photography began in November 2022, in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia. Burstyn was brought in that month for reshoots. In mid-December, production was shut down early for the holidays after Odom had an "unspecified health issue". Filming concluded in early March 2023.

[Filming] In February 2022, Burstyn stated that she had completed production for her part in the film. 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, the production team worked with Burstyn to make sure they had her part completed for the film. Linda Blair, who portrayed Regan MacNeil in the first film, was an "advisor" on set. 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".

On a production budget of $30 million, principal photography began in November 2022, in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia. Burstyn was brought in that month for reshoots.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: 2 wins & 22 nominations total

Additional Recognition: !Award !Date of ceremony !Category !Recipient(s) !Result !Ref

CRITICAL RECEPTION

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale, the same as The Exorcist III and Exorcist: The Beginning, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 61% positive score.

Owen Gleiberman, writing for Variety, said in his review: "The Exorcist: Believer, in its superficially competent and poshly mounted way, feels about as dangerous as a crucifix dipped in a bottle of designer water". David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter said: "Unlike Green's Halloween trilogy, which served up diminishing returns with each new installment, Believer condenses that downward trajectory into the first chapter" and called the film "hella disappointing". In Plugged In, Paul Asay praised the film for its theme of emphasizing the importance of faith and community in rescuing the oppressed. John Mulderig in the Catholic Review noted: "William Friedkin['s] Watergate-era picture ... was a fairly straightforward confrontation between Regan's tormentor and two Catholic priests...[D]riving away of the devil here, by contrast, takes on the qualities of a circus...thus promot[ing] a syncretist, humanistic and even vaguely anti-Catholic outlook that could be spiritually dangerous for anyone inclined to take it seriously. On the whole, however, this half-a-century-later follow-up is best dismissed as a bit of chaotic schlock." David Fear of Rolling Stone wrote, "There are moments in this borderline incoherent mess of a movie in which fans may be convinced that its sole purpose is to try making the original follow-up, 1977's legendarily godawful Exorcist II: The Heretic, look positively genius by comparison."

USA Today Brian Truitt gave the film a score of three out of four. He noted Burstyn's limited screen time, writing: "Odom gets a meatier character arc than Burstyn did back in the day, and while her return isn't as integral to the story as Jamie Lee Curtis' was to the rebooted Halloween, Chris' appearance adds needed weight to the Believer narrative.