The Exorcist: Believer release date: horror sequel moved forward to avoid clash with Taylor Swift Eras film

The Exorcist: Believer is an upcoming horror film and sequel to William Friedkin's 1973 seminal movie.

The sequel, which sees the return of original stars Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair, sees a single father grapple with the demonic possession of his daughter and her friend. He calls on Chris MacNeil (Burstyn) for her help as she has a traumatic history of possession herself.

Believer is part of a slate of pre-Halloween horror releases which includes Saw X, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Sister Death, and Woman in the Maze.

October is the month for studios to push their top horror films, hoping to cash in on spooky season - and Believer’s release date had been scheduled for months, but the date has changed due to the unprecedented pre-sale success of Taylor Swift’s Eras concert film.

Why was The Exorcist: Believer release date changed?

The release date for the film was pushed forward from the spooky date of Friday 13 October, to Friday 6 October.

But the reason behind the change is perhaps unexpected - distributors decided to move the release date to avoid a clash with none other than Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour movie.

The film’s producer Jason Blum took to X, formerly, Twitter, to share the news, posting: “Look what you made me do. The Exorcist: Believer moves to 10/6/23 #TaylorWins”.

The original Exorcist movie, released in 1973, made more than $400 million off a measly $12 The million budget and producers of the sequel will be keen to repeat the feat.

The 2023 sequel is a big budget production, though the exact cost has not yet been confirmed, and as part of a planned trilogy, the budget will be wrapped up in later instalments. Five Nights at Freddy’s, another Universal horror film coming out next month, was made on a budget of $25 million.

With tens of millions invested in the film, and as there are two more sequels to follow, Universal will be keen to give The Exorcist: Believer every chance of making a big splash at the box office. Yet, it is ironic that a terrifying horror sequel has itself been spooked by a Taylor Swift film.

What is Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour about?

The 2hr 45 film has been billed as a once in a lifetime concert experience - it will be released in the US on 13 October, the day that Believer was first slated for. However, a UK release date for the film is yet to be confirmed. 

The film is already smashing box office records despite the fact that it is still weeks away from being released.

Pre-sale tickets for the film passed $65 million earlier this month, and it is tipped for a whopping $100 million opening weekend. The film has broken AMC’s pre-sale record previously held by Spider-Man: No Way Home, a film that went on to make an eye-watering $1.9 billion.