The scariest trailer of the season just dropped — and it is not what anyone expected. Horror mastermind Mike Flanagan has unleashed the first full trailer for The Exorcist: Martyrs, and instead of another possessed child, he is giving the iconic franchise a radical reinvention: a gritty serial-killer mystery where the evil at the center goes well beyond the mortal. The film, starring Scarlett Johansson, opens in theaters March 12, 2027.
This is the seventh installment in The Exorcist franchise — and, in Universal’s telling, a fresh start. Flanagan wrote, directed, produced and edited the film through his Red Room Pictures banner, alongside producers Jason Blum (Blumhouse–Atomic Monster) and David Robinson (Morgan Creek Entertainment), with Universal Pictures handling distribution.
The story: a detective, a dead serial killer, and a name written in blood
Johansson plays Julie Miller, an NYPD homicide detective. Thirteen years ago, she ended the terror reign of a satanic serial killer known as Father Sunday — the case made her a hero, and she has thrown herself into her work ever since. Now a new killer is scrawling her name in an altar boy’s blood on the walls of a church crypt, dragging her back into the darkness she believed she had buried.
Aided by former prison chaplain Father William (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who heard Father Sunday’s final confession, and sharp rookie detective Gina Restrepo (Sasha Calle), Detective Miller discovers a filament linking a lineage of serial killers — from H.H. Holmes to the Zodiac — that could corrupt everything, and everyone, she loves.
The terror does not stay at the office. The trailer’s chilling closing beat shows Miller realizing the evil has reached her own home, where her 12-year-old son Max (Jacobi Jupe) is in its sights. As Flanagan puts it: he has always believed horror at home is particularly frightening, because that is where you are meant to be the safest.
Who is in the cast?
The ensemble is one of the strongest the franchise has ever assembled:
- Scarlett Johansson as Julie Miller, the homicide detective at the story’s center
- Chiwetel Ejiofor as Father William, a prison chaplain in crisis of faith
- Diane Lane as Mary Miller, Julie’s mother
- Jacobi Jupe as Max, Julie’s 12-year-old son
- Sasha Calle as Gina Restrepo, a sharp rookie detective
- John Leguizamo as Father Sunday, the satanic serial killer at the heart of the case
- Laurence Fishburne as Father Nichol, a revered priest
- Scoot McNairy as Clay Silver, a paroled convict
- Gil Bellows as Peter Nicks, a former acolyte of Father Sunday
Flanagan’s loyal collaborators are here too: Carla Gugino, Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli and Samantha Sloyan all appear — Sloyan has already called it “absolutely a stunning movie” and possibly the scariest thing she has seen Flanagan make. Carl Lumbly has a roughly four-minute scene near the end that Flanagan singled out as crucial, calling it the key to solving what is really going on.
Flanagan’s vision: out of the bedroom, into the precinct
Flanagan has been explicit about his reinvention. He wants to move possession “out of the bedroom and out of parental torment” — the classic franchise template — and into a serial-killer mystery. One of the trailer’s most discussed shots follows a trail of blood to a lone barrel containing something terrifying; when asked what is inside, Flanagan would only say that anyone who knows how Catholic martyrs died will find it interesting. That is the film’s title, weaponized as a clue.
His touchstones tell you everything: David Fincher’s Se7en and Zodiac, The Silence of the Lambs, the demon-possession thriller Fallen — alongside the original Exorcist and the underappreciated Exorcist III, which Flanagan calls his jumping-off point. His stated ambition is to build, in his own words, “a world where God is dead.”
Crucially, Martyrs tells a standalone story with new characters within the Exorcist universe — it is not a direct continuation of The Exorcist: Believer (2023). After that film’s critical failure, director David Gordon Green stepped away, and in May 2024 Universal canceled both his planned sequel Deceiver and its follow-up, handing the franchise’s future to Flanagan instead. Casting ran from November 2025 (Johansson joined then) through March 2026, when principal photography began in New York City; filming wrapped in June. The film survived two release-date shifts before landing on March 12, 2027.
What it means
This is Universal rebooting the reboot — and Flanagan is the reason it might work. The filmmaker behind The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, The Fall of the House of Usher and Doctor Sleep is arguably the most trusted name in modern horror, and his track record is built on exactly the kind of thing Martyrs promises: crime-story bones wrapped around supernatural dread. The announcement also continues a busy season for Flanagan, whose Stephen King adaptation Carrie has just landed on Prime Video — a series he has said he hopes will run for three seasons.
What’s next
The trailer rollout that began at New York Comic Con on October 9 will continue with additional trailers and images in the months ahead, ahead of the March 12, 2027 theatrical release through Universal Pictures. For horror fans, the countdown has officially begun.
Frequently asked questions
When is The Exorcist: Martyrs released?
March 12, 2027, in theaters, distributed by Universal Pictures.
Who stars in The Exorcist: Martyrs?
Scarlett Johansson leads as homicide detective Julie Miller, with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Diane Lane, Jacobi Jupe, Sasha Calle, Scoot McNairy, Gil Bellows, Laurence Fishburne and John Leguizamo.
Do I need to have seen The Exorcist: Believer?
No — Flanagan’s film is a standalone story with new characters. It follows the franchise timeline but is not a direct continuation of Believer.
Who is directing?
Mike Flanagan, who also wrote, produced and edited the film.
What is The Exorcist: Martyrs about?
A homicide detective who once took down a satanic serial killer faces a new series of ritualistic murders connected to that case — a serial-killer mystery where the evil may be supernatural.
Where did the trailer premiere?
The first trailer debuted during New York Comic Con in October 2026.