‘The Exorcist: Martyrs’ Trailer Drags the Demon Out of the Bedroom and Into a Homicide Case With Scarlett Johansson

Few horror franchises carry as much baggage as ‘The Exorcist.’ The 1973 original is still considered one of the scariest films ever made, and every attempt to follow it has had to wrestle with that legacy. Universal knows this better than most, having paid $400 million for the rights.

That investment hasn’t always paid off. 2023’s ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ opened to $27.2 million domestically and finished around $137 million worldwide, with critics giving it a 22% Rotten Tomatoes score. Now Blumhouse is trying a very different approach, handing the keys to Mike Flanagan, the filmmaker behind ‘The Haunting of Hill House,’ ‘Midnight Mass’ and ‘Doctor Sleep.’

The new ‘The Exorcist: Martyrs’ trailer shows what that fresh start looks like. The 2 minute, 23 second preview opens in near darkness, with a lone silhouette standing at the top of a long, dim stone staircase. It then follows Scarlett Johansson’s Detective Julie Miller as she investigates a string of gruesome church murders and begins to suspect she isn’t dealing with a normal serial killer.

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

— ScreenTime (@screentime) October 23, 2026

The footage moves the franchise out of the bedroom and into a procedural. Murders committed in a church prompt Johansson’s character to wonder whether earlier killers who claimed to be possessed by Satan might have been telling the truth. That premise offers a clear break from the possession-and-priest formula of previous films.

Flanagan has been open about the inspirations. He has cited ‘Se7en,’ ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ and ‘The Exorcist III’ as influences, and said that real-life killers’ claims of demonic possession helped inspire the story. He has also described the project as a new story set in the ‘Exorcist’ universe, rather than a remake of William Friedkin’s classic or a sequel to ‘Believer.’

Johansson leads an unusually deep ensemble. The cast includes Diane Lane, Jacobi Jupe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Laurence Fishburne, Scoot McNairy, Gil Bellows, John Leguizamo, Sasha Calle and Kate Siegel. Hamish Linklater and other longtime Flanagan collaborators have also joined the project.

Lane plays Mary Miller and Jupe plays Max Miller, suggesting a family angle that could connect the detective’s case to her personal life. Leguizamo is credited as Father Sunday, which hints that the church storyline will feature more than one clergyman. Plot specifics beyond the trailer remain largely under wraps.

The trailer was unveiled at New York Comic Con, where Flanagan promised the film would be the scariest he has ever made. Speaking to Esquire, he also said the film delves into the problem of evil. That sets expectations high for a director who has built his reputation on emotionally rich horror.

It’s also his fourth collaboration with Blumhouse, following ‘Oculus,’ ‘Hush’ and ‘Ouija: Origin of Evil.’ The film is a Blumhouse-Atomic Monster and Morgan Creek Entertainment production, made in association with Flanagan’s Red Room Pictures. It is written and directed by Flanagan and based on characters created by William Peter Blatty.

‘Martyrs’ has had a bumpy path to the screen. Flanagan was hired in 2024 after Universal scrapped the planned ‘Believer’ follow-up, ‘The Exorcist: Deceiver,’ and the film was once set for March 13, 2026. It was removed from Universal’s calendar in June 2025 and later pushed to 2027 after production delays.

The film is now scheduled to arrive on March 12, 2027, from Universal. Some commentators have noted it faces a double burden: it must justify Blumhouse’s investment in the franchise and redeem the troubled sequels in the eyes of audiences. That’s a tall order, but the trailer suggests Flanagan is going for something very different.

The ‘Believer’ misstep showed that simply replaying the original’s beats wasn’t enough. Pivoting to a detective story gives the franchise a fresh lens without discarding its core fear: that evil is real and personal. And with a cast this strong, the film could appeal to viewers who skipped the earlier sequels.

For horror fans, the biggest draw may be Flanagan himself. His track record with slow-burning dread and character-driven scares makes him a natural fit for a story about faith, doubt and monsters hiding behind human faces. If the trailer is any indication, he’s not holding back.

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