Scarlett Johansson Hunts a Satanic Killer in Mike Flanagan’s Chilling ‘The Exorcist: Martyrs’ Trailer

Few horror properties carry as much weight as ‘The Exorcist’, and Universal has spent years trying to bring the iconic franchise back to its former glory. In 2021, the studio paid a whopping $400 million for the rights to the property launched with William Friedkin’s 1973 blockbuster, in a deal that included budgets for a planned trio of feature films. The goal was to echo the playbook of David Gordon Green’s hit revival of ‘Halloween’.

That plan didn’t survive its first outing. ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ was released by Universal on October 6, 2023, but it did not meet box-office expectations, and plans for a trilogy were scrapped in favor of a fresh start with Mike Flanagan as director.

In effect, Universal turned to the filmmaker to reboot the reboot, with Flanagan essentially given carte blanche to take the franchise wherever he wanted. Now, the official trailer for ‘The Exorcist: Martyrs’ is giving fans their best look yet at what Flanagan has cooked up, and it’s a far cry from a traditional possession story.

Scarlett Johansson leads the film as NYPD homicide detective Julie Miller, who investigates a murderer called Father Sunday (John Leguizamo), a priest (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and a new wave of killings that threaten Miller’s 12-year-old son (Jacobi Jupe).

The official synopsis lays out a chilling setup. 13 years ago, Julie ended the terror reign of satanic serial killer Father Sunday, a case that made her a hero and sent her diving headfirst into her work ever since. Now a new killer scrawls her name in an altar boy’s blood on the walls of a church crypt, pulling her back into the darkness she thought she had buried with him.

Universal and Blumhouse are billing the project as a radical new vision of the most terrifying title in the history of cinematic horror. Based on the footage, the film looks less like a classic possession movie and more like a nightmarish serial-killer thriller.

Official trailer for The Exorcist: Martrys In theaters March 12, 2027 https://t.co/m5ZtwDT5Hx

— ScreenTime (@screentime) October 23, 2026

Longtime fans have already spotted a familiar influence. The premise suggests Flanagan is drawing inspiration from ‘The Exorcist III’, which similarly intertwined religious horror with a serial-killer investigation. The procedural angle expands to include priests played by Ejiofor and Laurence Fishburne.

That approach has many viewers feeling optimistic. Some early reactions suggest the trailer looks poised to undo the damage left by ‘The Exorcist: Believer’, with the filmmaker having previously stated his aim of making the scariest movie of his career.

The ensemble is stacked, with the official cast list including Johansson, Ejiofor, Diane Lane, Jupe, Sasha Calle, Scott McNairy, Gil Bellows, Fishburne and Leguizamo. Flanagan devotees will also recognize plenty of regulars from his limited series like ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ and ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’, including Rahul Kohli, Carla Gugino, Hamish Linklater, Samantha Sloyan, Kate Siegel and Benjamin Pajak.

Behind the camera, the film is written and directed by Flanagan and based on characters created by William Peter Blatty. It’s produced by David Robinson, Jason Blum and Flanagan, with Alexandra Magistro and Ryan Turek serving as executive producers.

Rewatching the Exorcist Martyrs trailer, I didn’t appreciate this image as much as I should have. It’s obviously the first time Julie encounters the killer & how her partner is injured in front of her. You can see Scarlett acting truly come through in this one image. She’s petrified & is fighting through the fright, flight or fight mode, while trying to figure out her next move. We know she is a rookie cop when she first encounters the killer. I am curious to know how far into training or her rookie year she is, because is she truly prepared? I like how this scene could foreshadowed her future decisions with her current partner played by Sasha Calle on if she’ll pull away or push her to a more safer root.

— Wolf (@9653W0LF) October 23, 2026

Getting here hasn’t been quick. Universal originally set the film for March 13, 2026, before pushing it back a full year, partly as Flanagan finished his 8-episode ‘Carrie’ adaptation for Amazon. That series has now landed on Prime Video, clearing the way for his big-screen return.

‘The Exorcist: Martyrs’ is set to open in theaters on March 12, 2027, claiming a prime spring break slot. Judging by this trailer, Flanagan may finally be the one to give the franchise the revival it has been chasing.

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