Mike Flanagan has made haunted houses, isolated communities, and even a hotel full of ghosts into compelling reasons to sleep with the lights on. Now, the filmmaker behind The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, and Doctor Sleep is taking on The Exorcist. Following a franchise with such an imposing original movie is no small assignment. Flanagan’s new entry, The Exorcist: Martyrs, brings Scarlett Johansson into that world with a story that begins as a criminal investigation.

Johansson stars as Julie Miller, an NYPD homicide detective raising her 12-year-old son, Max. Her work brings her into contact with Father Sunday, a serial killer played by John Leguizamo, whom she apprehends before witnessing his execution. That sounds like the end of an investigation, but this is The Exorcist, where death rarely makes a situation less complicated. The premise puts a crime story at the center of Flanagan’s latest supernatural horror movie. The first full trailer for The Exorcist: Martyrs is here, and Johansson has more to worry about than catching a killer. Universal has released the new preview for Flanagan’s take on the horror franchise, which releases in theaters March 12, 2027. The filmmaker has already turned a return to the Overlook Hotel into a worthy follow-up with Doctor Sleep, but now comes the considerably daunting task of putting his own stamp on The Exorcist. Watch the trailer below.
​​​​​Mike Flanagan’s ‘The Exorcist’ Tells a New Story Within the Franchise

Martyrs brings together an ensemble that includes Jacobi Jupe, Diane Lane, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sasha Calle, and Laurence Fishburne. Several familiar faces from Flanagan’s previous projects also appear in the cast, including Carla Gugino, Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli, and Hamish Linklater. With Johansson’s detective at the center, the movie has an opportunity to introduce audiences to its supernatural danger through a case she initially believes she can solve. Flanagan writes and directs the movie, which is not a continuation of 2023’s The Exorcist: Believer. He also produces alongside Jason Blum and David Robinson, with Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, and Morgan Creek Entertainment producing in association with Red Room Pictures. That gives Martyrs room to establish its own story without picking up the previous installment’s unresolved threads.

The Exorcist: Martyrs opens in theaters March 12, 2027.

Release Date

March 12, 2027

Franchise(s)

The Exorcist