After starring in last year’s critically panned film ‘Poker Face’, Oscar winning actor Russell Crowe is all geared up to come back with a supernatural horror movie titled ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’. The movie is set to release in Indian theatres on 7th April 2023.
Helmed by Julius Avery, who directed Sylvester Stallone’s superhero movie ‘Samaritan’ last year, ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ is inspired by the actual files of the Vatican’s Chief Exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth (played by Russell Crowe). The film’s story revolves around how the exorcist investigates a young boy’s possession and unearths the mystery behind an age-old hidden conspiracy.
But the question is: Will ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ be able to revive the exorcism-horror sub-genre? Let’s try to analyse from the perspective of the quantum of prospective viewers the film currently holds globally and in India.
As per the latest Google Trends charts, ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ search term has scored decent interest over time worldwide for the past seven days. However, in India, that’s not the case. Perhaps, an English language exorcism-horror film does not excite Indian movie-goers in the same way as an action-packed film like ‘John Wick’ does.
Moreover, on the Indian movie ticketing portal BookMyShow, ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ has garnered a BMS interest score of just around 6.1k prospective viewers. On the other hand, globally, the upcoming film has witnessed a significant percentage increase in popularity on the international movies database portal IMDb.
This rather implies that ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ has aroused some curiosity from global audiences but not so much from Indian viewers. If the film turns out to be a really well-made one and becomes a hit in the US, then the positive word-of-mouth should potentially help its prospects in India as well.
William Friedkin’s cult 1973 film ‘The Exorcist’ is widely regarded as the granddaddy of all exorcism-based films. In the post-2k era, Scott Derrickson’s ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’ and James Wan’s ‘The Conjuring’ created a significant impact. On the small screen, there exists a well-crafted and critically acclaimed two-season series also titled ‘The Exorcist’, which is streaming in India on Amazon Prime Video.
On the other hand, there have also been some badly made movies on the subject of exorcism. The list includes ‘The Devil Inside’ (2012), ‘The Unborn’ (2009), ‘The Possession’ (2012), ‘The Nun’ (2018), and ‘The Haunting in Connecticut’ (2009), to name a few.
Whether ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ would eventually fall in the former or the latter category, and whether it can revive the almost saturated exorcism genre, can only be known after the film releases next month. But with a proficient performer like Russell Crowe in the lead and a promising director behind the camera, things look hopeful for the upcoming exorcism-based movie.
‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ Trailer –
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