The producer of The Exorcist: Believer has opened up about the decision to move up the film’s release date to avoid clashing with Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour documentary.
The horror film was originally set to release on Friday, October 13, but after Swift, 33, announced her plans to release her concert film on the same date, Exorcist pushed its premiere date to October 6.
Jason Blum told it Variety: ‘The only thing I’m terrified of is Taylor Swift!
“We had this great Friday the 13th in October, the best day to release a scary movie. Obviously we left that (date) and bowed our heads to Taylor Swift.”
Blum said he had considered sticking to the original release date to launch an ‘Exorswift’ movement, but said, “It was too risky to see if ‘Exorswift’ would succeed or not.” People will still have the Exorswift option, so maybe we should have our cake and eat it too.
Ready for? The producer of The Exorcist: Believer has opened up about the decision to move up the film’s release date to avoid a fight with Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour documentary
Nightmare Fuel: The horror film was originally scheduled for release on Friday, October 13, but after Swift, 33, announced her plans to release her concert film on the same date, Exorcist pushed its premiere date to October 6
On his Twitter last month in response to the release date change, Jason jokingly blamed the date shift on Taylor’s film, writing, “Look what you made me do!”
To add an extra layer of humor to the tweet, the film producer added the hashtag #taylorwins. The Lavender Haze singer has not yet publicly responded to the new release date of The Exorcist: Believer.
Taylor announced on Instagram to her millions of followers that “The Eras Tour has been the most meaningful, exciting experience of my life so far and I’m overjoyed to tell you that it will soon be hitting the big screen.”
She raised expectations for her fans by adding, “Era clothing, friendship bracelets, singing and dancing are encouraged.”
Movie ticket websites are already preparing to shore up their servers for ticket demand from dedicated Swifties who couldn’t attend the Eras tour in person.
According to NPRAMC, for example, has already expanded its website and servers to “more than five times the largest influx of ticket sales traffic the company has ever experienced before.”
Renowned concert film director Sam Wrench (he has directed concert films for Billie Eilish, Jennifer Lopez, BTS and Pentatonix, to name a few) will be behind the lens for the Taylor Swift Eras concert tour filming experience.
Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of the National Association of Theater Owners, conveyed his excitement about the Eras tour film hitting theaters through an official statement: “The only place you can experience the global excitement of Taylor Swift’s live concerts can imitate is in a cinema with immersive, state-of-the-art projection and sound next to a loud crowd of passionate fans,” said USA today.
Funny: Last month, Jason Blum jokingly blamed the date shift in Taylor’s film, writing on Twitter, “Look what you made me do!”
Return of the OG: Ellen Burstyn will reprise her role as Chris MacNeil in The Exorcist: Believer, the first time the Oscar winner has done so since 1973
He praised the Evermore singer for making her tour accessible to everyone, adding that the blonde beauty will show: “The true potential of what a concert film can do in theaters.” This is a great opportunity for fans to experience a huge cultural phenomenon in a very accessible way.”
In the meantime, the actual Eras tour will continue until 2024.
The Bad Blood singer will take her Eras tour around the world to Mexico, Japan, Australia, South America and Europe before returning to North America to conclude the tour.
Taylor announced on Instagram: “The Eras Tour has been the most meaningful, electric experience of my life so far and I’m overjoyed to tell you that it’s coming to the big screen soon.”
Meanwhile, Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn will reprise her iconic Exorcist role as Chris MacNeil in The Exorcist: Believer.
In the film, distraught father Victor Fielding (played by Hamilton’s Leslie Odom Jr.) asks Chris for help after his daughter is possessed by a demon.
Debuting on October 6, The Exorcist: Believer is the sixth installment in the Exorcist film franchise.
In the meantime, Taylor Swift: Eras Concert hits theaters everywhere on Friday, October 13.