Universal Pictures has released the first trailer for The Exorcist: Martyrs, director Mike Flanagan’s new take on the horror franchise, with Scarlett Johansson in the lead.
Flanagan, known for Doctor Sleep, Midnight Mass and The Haunting of Hill House, has said he wants it to be the scariest film he has made.
A detective story with demons
Johansson plays NYPD homicide detective Julie Miller, a single mother who caught a killer called Father Sunday, played by John Leguizamo, who staged murders based on the martyrdoms of Catholic saints. After his execution goes wrong, the killings continue, and the case begins to point to something that may not be human. It turns personal when Julie’s mother and son are put in danger.
Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Father William, the former prison chaplain who presided over Father Sunday’s execution. Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Sasha Calle and Jacobi Jupe round out the main cast, alongside several Flanagan regulars.
Not a remake
Flanagan has stressed that this is a standalone story rather than a remake of the 1973 classic or a sequel to 2023’s The Exorcist: Believer. “We wanted very much for this to stand on its own two legs, encapsulating a brand-new plotline with brand-new characters,” he has said. He has named The Exorcist III, Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs among his influences.
Release date
The Exorcist: Martyrs opens in cinemas on March 12, 2027.
Further reading
Image: Mike Flanagan at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival by Kevin Payravi, BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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