Russell Crowe’s back-to-back exorcism films made up for his failed horror franchise that died after one film

Russell Crowe doesn’t appear often in horror films, but after the failure of his 2017 remake, The mummyhis recent exorcism films have partially offset his horror losses. Crowe’s acting career began in 1990 when he appeared in the Australian drama Prisoners of the Sun. In the years since, Crowe has directed some truly iconic films, from Gladiator and A beautiful mind to Robin Hood and Les Misérables. However Crowe has certainly proven his talent as a dramatic actor, one genre he has yet to master is the horror film.although this may be changing.

The most notable horror entry in Crowe’s career is The mummy. This 2017 film is a reboot of the 1932 original Mummy franchise, and was supposed to be part of Universal’s Dark Universe, which included remakes of Universal’s classic monster movies. However, The mummy did not perform as well as expected. Although the film grossed an estimated $410 million, critics agreed that the film lacked any sense of fun and merely borrowed from better horror films. Fortunately, though, Crowe’s horror journey didn’t end there.

Russell Crowe Has Starred in Two Horror Films Since The Mummy Flop

Crowe’s exorcist films are a solid start

After the failure of The mummy, It would make sense for Crowe to abandon horror altogether, but the actor has made a surprising turnaround in recent years by starring in two more horror films. In 2023, he starred The Pope’s Exorcist and just a year later he appeared in The Exorcism. Although The Exorcism was criticized, with 28% in Rotten tomatoes, The Pope’s Exorcist showed a glimmer of hope. With some good reviews, many of which surrounded Crowe’s performance, these exorcism films opened a door for the actor.

While Crowe’s recent exorcism films haven’t exactly been a success, they have definitely changed the relationship between the actor and the horror genre. The mummy was such a hard failure considering an entirely new franchise depended on itand any other actor could have cut their losses and never returned to horror. However, Crowe demonstrated a great interest in horror films and at least The Pope’s Exorcist proved he could have a knack for horror if he found the right script.

Russell Crowe’s exorcism films were very different from his role in the dark universe

What Horror Crowe Should Try Next

Perhaps one of the reasons these exorcism films have done better than The mummy is that Crowe plays completely different characters. In The mummy, Crowe plays a somewhat mild version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde who must fight his dark impulses. Meanwhile, Crowe plays a rogue exorcist and a traumatized actor in The Pope’s Exorcist and The Exorcism respectively. Some may argue that Crowe’s new roles give him much more room to perform than he did in The mummy, which was criticized for its lack of originality.

Ultimately, it could be good for Crowe to delve even deeper into the horror genre. The Pope’s Exorcist It’s just a hint of what Crowe might be able to do if you receive a suitably good film. At this point, Crowe has a number of new films in the works, from Marvel’s Kraven the Hunter for a historical film called Nuremberg. However, perhaps in the future, Crowe can continue to make up for the failure of The mummy taking on increasingly better roles in horror films.