Before Pineapple Express and The Exorcist: Believer, Director David Gordon Green was Championed by Critic Roger Egret
- movieduckcritic
- Jan 18, 2024
- 5 min read
December 2021: Universal Pictures, NBCUniversal, Blumhouse and Morgan Creek all walk into a metaphorical bar and decide to purchase the worldwide rights to the Exorcist franchise--At the small cost of $400M+. These swanky Execs wanted to wipe the slate clean and give the original 1973 masterpiece true and direct sequels. And they were willing to sink serious cash.
Helming the costly venture was comedy-turned-horror duo, David Gordon Green and Danny McBride. The duo had just made Box Office bank with the first two installments of their rebooted HALLOWEEN Trilogy. Clearly, Execs wanted lightning to strike twice.
March 2023, Blumhouse Founder, Jason Blum, admitted to Indiewire that this franchise was risky. Not for him. But for his financial partners. Primarily, Universal.
"The riskiest movie I have ever made for sure is not out yet. It’s ‘The Exorcist.’ Just because it’s so expensive. Usually the bar to success on everything we do because it’s inexpensive is incredibly low. For ‘The Exorcist,’ it’s high...
It’s not high risk for Blumhouse. We’ve obviously already been paid, but it’s high risk for our partners. So when you ask me what the riskiest thing we’ve ever worked on is, I take that as for us or our financial partners. In the case of ‘The Exorcist,’ that would be the biggest one, because it’s a high risk for Universal." - Jason Blum, Blumhouse, IndieWire March 31 2023
To say expectations were immense, would be like saying a cyclone was "a little wet".
The trilogy's title debut, THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER, had a lot riding on it.
Maybe it was inevitable that it crashed and burned.
Early test screenings of Believer in New York City, May 2023, unleashed a blitz of negative press. Its second test in Texas, June, faired no better. By the time it reached Las Vegas for testing, four months had passed and World of Reel critic, Jordan Ruimy, said he was "still waiting for a reader who liked it to send (him) an email".
We could hear the death rattle around the globe.
Believer officially opened October 2023 to "critical hellfire" (The Hollywood Reporter).
So, how did we get here?
BETTING A $400M+ HORROR VENTURE ON DAVID GORDEON GREEN & DANNY MCBRIDE
In 2016, The upkeeping editors of the late Roger Ebert's critic site spotlighted David Gordon Green as one of Roger's Favourites. A filmmaker he went so far to actively champion.
Green's debut film GEORGE WASHINGTON (2000) displayed what Roger called a "mastery of style" that 'play(ed) notes it seems to be inventing". It reminded him of Terrence Malick's DAYS OF HEAVEN (1978) which won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and Cannes Best Director Award. At the time, Green was only 25 years old.
Roger was similarly struck by Green's following films. On UNDERTOW (2009) he stated:
"(Green) has achieved what few directors ever do: After watching one of his films for a scene or two, you know who directed it." - Roger Ebert
And then, in 2008, we received the first David Gordon Green and Danny McBride duo debut.
PINEAPPLES EXPRESS (2008).
On it, Roger Ebert remarked: "There's a danger (Green will) become in demand by mainstream Hollywood and tempted away from the greatness he showed in 'George Washington' and 'Undertow'". He gave it three and a half stars.
His words provided prophetic.
In 2011, Green and McBride released their next film: YOUR HIGHNESS.
Ebert gave it one star.
"The movie is a perplexing collapse of judgment... David Gordon Green has made great films. He should remind himself of that" - Roger Ebert
February 2017, John Carpenter released on Facebook that the duo were going to reboot Halloween with his blessings and assistance.
"So you say you want a Revolution? You want to shake things up and bring back Halloween and make it rock again? Well so do I... David and Danny both came to my office recently with Jason Blum and shared their vision for the new movie and… WOW. They get it. I think you’re gonna dig it. They blew me away." - John Carpenter
Say what you want about the films, but the creators behind Pineapple Express and Your Highness, killed it. In that good way. To this day, HALLOWEEN (2018) remains Blumhouse's Number One Domestic Opening Title with a remarkable $24M+ lead, according to BoxOfffice Mojo. It is also their second highest domestic grossing film of all time.
To truly comprehend how big the Halloween Trilogy is for Blumhouse, check this out:
BLUMHOUSE PRODUCTIONS DOMESTIC OPENINGS RANKED (BOX OFFICE MOJO, IMDB)
HALLOWEEN (2018) $76M+
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 (2011) $52M+
HALLOWEEN KILLS (2021) $49M+
BLUMHOUSE PRODUCTIONS DOMESTIC LIFETIME RANKED (BOX OFFICE MOJO, IMDB)
GET OUT (2017) $176M+
HALLOWEEN (2018) $159M+
SPLIT (2017) $138M+
(...)
5. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (2009) $107M+
6. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (2011) $104M+
7. HALLOWEEN KILLS (2021) $92M+
Yes, they killed it so good that Blumhouse, Universal, and Co, handed them the keys to a $400m+ Exorcist baby only months after they released the reboot's second installment.
In an interview with Fangoria, October 2023, director, David Gordon Green, even revealed filming for Believer had even begun before principle on HALLOWEEN ENDS (2022).
These Execs were betting on the duo repeating their magic. But as David Herrin, founder of The Quorum, put it: the Halloween reboot's success was a statistical anomaly, not a rule.
"Bringing back beloved IP doesn't mean you will match the heights of these statistical anomalies. You're setting yourself up for failure" - David Herrin, The Quorum.
SO WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER THAT IT MADE US LOSE FAITH?
There are many variables that can be observed to why Halloween succeeded where Believer failed. I am sure, in time, we will have these studies explaining how such a prized IP managed to flop so hard its domestic opening for Blumhouse sits at #16, sandwiched between HAPPY DEATH DAY (2017) and the THE INVISABLE MAN (2020).
But for me, the most frustrating part? The film actually had SO MUCH potential.
It had a good premise. It had a good cast. I think you could even potentially say Green's old, "Ebert-championed" style flared back into life through the first act or so. He drew on his drama chops to warm you to this world, to not force-feed you the fact "THIS IS A HORROR FILM" like so many cheap-scares do. Heck, even the cinematography and editing was tight.
But then something happened once the girls were retrieved.
You could feel this heavy-handed interference that reigned in anything potentially controversial. Anything of true substance. This suffocating censorship that took all the suspense Green had built and fizzled it out into a pathetic wheeze.
The final part of the film was literally people standing in a room screaming at tied-up kids.
They didn't seem to know what they were doing. We didn't know either!
It was pathetic. A waste.
(I still stand by that kid should have taken a huge, hot, satisfying piss in the Church. Heck, threw it at the priest! The whole front row!).
Horror films are meant to make you uncomfortable. They're supposed to point out uneasy truths and explore them. Deconstruct them counter to social norms and expectations.
To censor anything potentially "uncomfortable" undermines the whole purpose of the genre.
I would love to know what Green and McBride's original concept was, giving them the benefit of the doubt that it was censored--and not just a half-baked, lackluster dumpfire from the start.
WHAT KIND OF DECEPTION WAITS AHEAD FOR EXORCIST-LOVING FANS NOW?
THE EXORCIST: DECIEVER was originally slated for a 2025 release. It had now been removed from Universal's release calendar, replaced by Antoine Fuqua's Michael Jackson biopic.
Green has stepped away from directing duties and instead, Variety reports, is focusing on production for NUTCRACKERS starring Ben Stiller, along with his other McBride and HBO collab projects, including THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES (Season 4), and a "naughty" animated series based on the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards that has been reportedly in development since 2021.
Over at Collider, critic Liam Gaughan urges Green to return to his indie drama roots, arguing the director has lost his person touch and has been wasting his talent in the "studio system".
I'm sure Ebert, wherever he is now, would agree.
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