With ‘Exorcist: Believer,’ Danny McBride Continues His Horror Revival Winning Streak

As the great Kenny Powers once said (don't worry, this is one of his few quotes we can print), "There's no better feeling than winning." It's hard to imagine anyone winning more than Danny McBride right now.

Earlier this year, McBride unleashed the extremely hilarious third (and highest-rated) season of his hit HBO comedy The Righteous Gemstones, and this weekend, The Exorcist: Believer, on which he was an executive producer and received story credit, earned a big box office victory. It's just the latest proof that McBride is living the life.

Funny enough, the Georgia native never intended to become an actor. Speaking to Backstage last year, he revealed that he only started acting "as a lark" while attending the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he met fellow aspiring writer-directors and future creative partners David Gordon Green and Jody Hill.

McBride soon made his first official big screen appearance as "Bust-Ass" in Green's sophomore directorial effort, All the Real Girls. He quickly became a go-to comedy scene-stealer between Hot Rod, Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express. But the game-changer was the 2009 premiere of HBO's raunchy sports comedy Eastbound & Down, a cult favorite from McBride, Hill and Green that starred McBride as Kenny Powers, a foul-mouthed major league pitcher–turned–middle school gym teacher.

The four-season series was the debut installment of what McBride calls the trio's "misunderstood angry man trilogy." Next was the two-season run of Vice Principals, followed by the ongoing home run that is Righteous Gemstones, which finds McBride starring as the oldest son in a family of televangelists and megachurch pastors who wear incredible outfits (see below).

All of McBride's shows are filmed in South Carolina, where he lives full-time — he and his collaborators have essentially created their own film industry there. But when McBride isn't making Gemstones or hanging out on the beautiful South Carolina beaches, he's scaring up ideas for how to revive iconic horror franchises.

McBride served as executive producer and co-writer of the recent Halloween revival trilogy, which was directed by his old friend Green and grossed $500 million. That success led Universal to pony up $400 million for the rights to The Exorcist and hand the keys to Green and McBride for another go-around. The first of three planned films, The Exorcist: Believer, opened to $27 million, good enough for a decisive box office win. Although, it should be noted the film was widely panned by critics, including The Messenger's Jordan Hoffman, who declared it "more dull than devilish."

And yet, all McBride had to do for Believer was help come up with a story and let his buddy do the heavy lifting. Hence, another W for him and his dream life.

"Half the year, I sit on my ass watching reality TV, and then, suddenly, I'm thrown into this fire where I'm juggling 10 different plates," McBride said. "When it's all over, I'm exhausted and wondering how the hell I did it. It feels daunting, but if you love what you're doing, you'll find the energy to make it happen."

Clearly, his righteous gems never stop!