“The Exorcist” franchise is about to get bigger.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and director, writer and producer Mike Flanagan unveiled the trailer for “The Exorcist: Martyrs” at New York City Comic Con, with Scarlett Johansson starring as a homicide detective who soon realizes she isn’t dealing with a normal serial killer.
Releasing in theaters March 12, the trailer shows a slew of gruesome murders that were committed in a church, prompting Johansson’s character to question if the claims of previous killers alleging they were posessed by Satan could, in fact, have merit.
Starring alongside Ejiofor and Johansson are John Leguizamo, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane and “Hamnet” star Jacobi Jupe.
Prior to revealing the trailer, Flanagan teased “The Exorcist: Martyrs” is the scariest project he’s done in his career.
“This movie is unlike any other ‘Exorcist’ movie that’s ever been made, which was something that we were really determined to do from the very beginning, to take this franchise in a completely different direction,” Flanagan said during the panel. “And one of the things that we all kind of agreed on going in was that it had to be scary. It had to just be goddamn scary, like to your bones scary.”
Universal bought the rights for a new “Exorcist” trilogy for $400 million in 2021, launching with “The Excorcist: Believer” two years later. However, Flanagan’s film will not serve as a sequel to the 2023 movie.
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“’The Exorcist’ is one of the reasons I became a filmmaker, and it is an honour to have the chance to try something fresh, bold and terrifying within its universe,” Flanagan said in 2024. “Reuniting with my friends at Blumhouse, with whom I’ve made some of my favourite pieces of work, only makes this more exciting.”
This is Flanagan’s fourth collaboration with Blumhouse, previously writing and directing 2013’s “Oculus,” 2016’s “Hush” and 2016’s “Ouija: Origin of Evil.” The three films were produced by Trevor Macy, who will return as producer for “The Exorcist: Martyrs” on behalf of Intrepid Pictures.
Alexandra Magistro executive produces for Red Room Pictures alongside Topher Merrill and John Baden executive produce for Morgan Creek Entertainment. Trevor Macy, Karl Frankenfield, David Robinson and Roy Lee produce, and Jason Blum and Ryan Turek serve as producer and executive producer for Blumhouse-Atomic Monster.
“The Exorcist: Martyrs” is a Blumhouse-Atomic Monster and Morgan Creek Entertainment production, in association with Flanagan’s Red Room Pictures. The film was originally set to premiere this March but was pushed to 2027 after production was delayed.
The original “The Exorcist” released in 1973 and was directed by William Friedkin, following a mother (Ellen Burstyn) who hired Catholic priests to perform an exorcism on her 12-year-old daughter (Linda Blair) who became possessed by a demon. The film went on to earn $441 million globally and received 10 Oscar nominations.
Watch the trailer below.
From Variety US