10 Movies Everyone Thought Were Sequels (But Weren't)

When the first trailer for the recent Russell Crowe-starring horror film The Exorcism dropped, most understandably assumed that it was a sequel to last year's surprise box office hit The Pope's Exorcist.

After all, it's another exorcism film with Russell Crowe in it, and the poster even looks near-identical to that of The Pope's Exorcist, showing Crowe in a priest outfit holding up a crucifix.

But The Exorcism is actually a totally standalone movie, albeit one that was clearly marketed to try and trick people into thinking it was associated with The Pope's Exorcist.

For starters, in The Exorcism Crowe is merely playing an actor portraying a priest in a movie - a fact the posters obviously neglected to mention. 

But more crucially, The Exorcism was actually mostly filmed way back in 2019, and spent the better part of five years in post-production Hell.

During this time its original title, The Georgetown Project, was dropped for the more generic-sounding The Exorcism, which would obviously instantly create a link with The Pope's Exorcist in people's minds.

The gambit didn't pay off, though, as The Exorcism ultimately grossed just $7.8 million worldwide - barely 10% of the $77 million global haul raked in by The Pope's Exorcist.