‘The Exorcist: Martyrs’ Reveals Mike Flanagan’s Dark New Take on the Franchise

The Exorcist is returning with a very different kind of investigation. The Exorcist: Martyrs, Mike Flanagan’s new chapter in the long-running horror franchise, will open in cinemas in March 2027 with Scarlett Johansson leading a story that connects serial murder, religious horror and a conspiracy stretching far beyond one killer.

Johansson stars as New York City detective Julie Miller, who became a public hero 13 years earlier after bringing down satanic murderer Father Sunday. Since then, she has buried herself in police work and tried to leave the case behind.

That distance disappears when a new killer writes her name in an altar boy’s blood on the walls of a church crypt.

The discovery pulls Miller back towards the darkness surrounding Father Sunday and forces her to work alongside former prison chaplain Father William, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who heard the killer’s final confession. Sasha Calle also stars as rookie detective Gina Restrepo, with the trio uncovering a link between a lineage of serial killers stretching from H.H. Holmes to the Zodiac.

The deeper they go, the more the investigation begins to suggest that the violence is connected by something that reaches beyond conventional criminality.

Flanagan writes and directs the film, continuing a run of horror work that includes The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, The Fall of the House of Usher, Doctor Sleep, Hush and Gerald’s Game. The film is based on characters created by William Peter Blatty.

The supporting cast includes Diane Lane as Julie’s mother Mary, who has moved in to help care for Julie’s son Max, played by Jacobi Jupe. Scoot McNairy appears as paroled convict Clay Silver, while Gil Bellows plays Peter Nicks, a former follower of Father Sunday.

Laurence Fishburne joins the film as Father Nichol, a respected priest, with John Leguizamo taking on the role of Father Sunday himself.

The production brings together several names already closely associated with contemporary horror. David Robinson, Jason Blum and Flanagan produce, with Alexandra Magistro and Ryan Turek serving as executive producers.

Check out the first chilling trailer below.

The Exorcist: Martyrs will be released in cinemas on 12 March 2027.

The Exorcist: Martyrs trailer