There have been so many great horror films that have delighted genre diehards and general audiences alike in the early months of 2023. This includes original terrors like M3GAN and scary franchise returns like Scream VI and Evil Dead Rise. However, even the most well versed horror fan wouldn’t have been able to predict the box office success that would be The Pope’s Exorcist. The supernatural horror tale starring Russell Crowe has been a hit, and now it’s been announced that Sony will be releasing the film on digital this week.

This comes after The Pope’s Exorcist’s smashing theatrical debut in mid-April. In just three weeks of release, the film has made $55 million at the worldwide box office. That might not seem like much, but this is the horror genre we're talking about. This was a demonic beast of a film that only had the modest price tag of $17 million. The Pope’s Exorcist has more than doubled that which made Sony quickly get to work on a sequel. It even took down Universal's Renfield, a monster movie with a much bigger budget and arguably more marketing behind it. Yet Nicolas Cage’s Dracula found one Pope he couldn’t blow up.

However, the Pope’s personal exorcist wasn’t just a moneymaker, it was a good film in its own right. While the film was filled with haunted house genre clichés, Crowe elevated what was on the page and director Julius Avery brought a nice gothic flair to this hellishly fun scarefest. Also, for fans who rarely see “A-list” actors in horror films at the height of their career, Crowe’s obvious passion for the source material was a nice change of pace.

Russell Crowe in The Pope's Exorcist
Image via Sony

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What’s Pope’s Exorcist About?

The Pope’s Exorcist follows Father Gabriele Amorth who was the real-life Vatican’s top exorcist. The film used the overdone set up of a possessed child as a compelling labyrinth to touch on religious cover-ups and the church’s touchy history while acknowledging the existence of the “afterlife”. Like The Conjuring franchise before it, which is based on the case files of Ed and Lorraine Warren who Amorth knew, a sequel could go literally anywhere. Amorth kept a diary of all his unholy adventures, and who wouldn’t want another story with this Vespa loving exorcist?

When Does Pope’s Exorcist Release On Digital?

The Pope’s Exorcist hits digital on Tuesday, May 2. However, the film is still in theaters now for any brave soul looking to satisfy their horror craving. While fans wait for more sequel news, you can check out Collider's interview with Crowe about Gladiator 2 and The Pope’s Exorcist down below: