Jason Blum may have built a successful little horror studio in Blumhouse Productions the past 23 years, but it’s no match against the biggest pop star in the world. That’s why Blum had no qualms shifting the release date of David Gordon Green‘s “The Exorcist: Believer” to make way for Taylor Swift‘s “Eras Tour” concert film. After all, what’s scarier at this point — a horror sequel or the Taylor Swift pop-cultural juggernaut?
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EW reports that after “Eras Tour” received the same October 13 release date, Blum promptly shifted his studio’s premier Halloween-season release to a week earlier. And it wasn’t a hard decision either. “The one thing that scares me to death is Taylor Smith,” the producer joked to the outlet. But that meant Blum had to sacrifice a Friday the 13th release date for Green’s new “Exorcist” installment, a fitting one for a horror film. “We had this amazing Friday the 13th in October, which is the single best day to release a scary movie,” continued Blum. Maybe the next two films in Blumhouse’s and Morgan Creek‘s planned “Exorcist” trilogy will be lucky enough to get a similar release date.
But relinquishing the date to Taylor Swift wasn’t Blum’s original intention. When Swift first announced the “Eras Tour” movie in August, the producer first responded on Twitter with “#Exorswift,” a play on the buzzy “Barbeneheimer” phrasing that went with the summer movie schedule’s biggest double feature spot. But Blum almost immediately came to his senses. Later that day, he tweeted: “Look what you made me do. “The Exorcist: Believer” movies to 10/6/23 #TaylorWins.”
Yes, Ms. Swift typically does. And her “Era Tours” concert film may end up being one of the biggest films of the Fall, if not 2023 entirely. But Blum still needs to think about his film’s success. “Obviously, we moved off that [date] and we bowed our head to Taylor Swift,” Blum explained. “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.”
A direct sequel to the late William Friedkin‘s 1973 film, “The Exorcist: Believer” stars Lidya Jewett and Olivia O’Neill as two children possessed by demons. Other cast includes Leslie Odom Jr., Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Ann Dowd, and Ellen Burstyn, reprising her role from Friedkin’s classic. It’s not the first time Green got a horror movie heroine to return for new films in a former franchise; Jamie Lee Curtis did so three times in Green’s recent “Halloween” trilogy. “I really give David Gordon Green credit for that,” Blum said of Green’s past three films. “He was able to get Jamie Lee Curtis comfortable, and David got Ellen to feel comfortable to join us in this iteration of her iconic movie.”
As noted earlier, “The Exorcist: Believer” hits theaters now on October 6. And “Eras Tour” comes out on Friday, October 13th. And given Swift’s tour’s success, don’t expect that date to be an unlucky number for her.