Exorcist producer was scared “to death” of Taylor Swift ‘Eras Tour’ film box office face-off

28 September, 2023

Taylor Swift attends the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards at Prudential Center on September 12, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey. Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/GETTY

Jason Blum, the producer behind The Exorcist: Believer, has revealed that he was scared “to death” of Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’ film box office face-off.

Swift had decided to release her ‘Eras Tour’ concert film in mid-October, prompting Blum to change the release date of his upcoming film, the sequel to the 1973 hit horror film The Exorcist.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Blum joked: “The one thing that scares me to death is Taylor Swift!”

He added: “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.”

The horror film was set to release on Friday, October 13. But Swift surprised everyone with the announcement of an ‘Eras Tour’ concert movie on the same date. Blum took to X/Twitter to share a tweet that read “#Exorswift”.

“We had this amazing Friday the 13th in October, which is the single best day to release a scary movie,” explained Blum, who is working on a trilogy of Exorcist films in partnership with the franchise’s rights-holders Morgan Creek.

The same day he tweeted “#Exorswift”, Blum went on to share a new tweet announcing that The Exorcist: Believer had been moved up a week. “Look what you made me do,” read the tweet. “The Exorcist: Believer moves to 10/6/23 #TaylorWins.”

Directed by David Gordon Green, who helmed the recent Halloween reboot trilogy, The Exorcist: Believer similarly serves as a direct sequel to William Friedkin’s 1973 original.

The film is the first entry in a planned trilogy, with a follow-up titled The Exorcist: Deceiver scheduled to be released on April 18, 2025.

In 2016, The Exorcist was adapted into a TV series which was designed as a continuation of the original film. The series was cancelled in 2018 after two seasons.

The Exorcist: Believer is released in cinemas on October 13, 2023.

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