Mike Flanagan’s upcoming horror film The Exorcist: Martyrs has released its first official images and plot details ahead of an expected trailer drop this Friday, October 9, 2026, darkhorizons.com reported. Scheduled to open in theaters on March 12, 2027, the movie serves as a standalone entry in the long-running horror franchise following the 2023 box office disappointment The Exorcist: Believer.
The Bottom Line
- Plot Premise: Scarlett Johansson stars as an NYPD detective tracking a serial killer who stages murders like Catholic saint martyrdoms.
- Franchise Standing: The film is a standalone story within the original universe, separate from the scrapped Believer trilogy.
Scarlett Johansson and the NYPD Serial Killer Investigation
The narrative centers on Detective Julie Miller, an NYPD homicide detective and single mother played by Scarlett Johansson, according to cbr.com. Julie lives with her 12-year-old son, Max, played by Jacobi Jupe, and receives childcare support from her mother, Mary, played by Diane Lane. The central conflict ignites after Julie arrests a notorious serial killer named Father Sunday, played by John Leguizamo, who stages his crime scenes to mimic the brutal martyrdom of Roman Catholic saints. When Father Sunday’s execution does not go according to plan and murders persist, Julie teams up with fellow detective Gina, played by Sasha Calle, to investigate a dark nexus of crime and the supernatural.
Flanagan detailed the genre fusion to Esquire, explaining how he sought to blend crime procedurals with demonic horror. “How can we explore those ideas in a serial-killer thriller in a way that starts to combine these subgenres a little, that takes what we love about a movie like Se7en or The Silence of the Lambs and combines it with what we love about a movie like The Exorcist?” Flanagan asked, as noted by cbr.com. “We’re talking about humans under the influence—or in some cases direct control—of evil itself.”
Priests, Faith Crises, and Ancient Rituals
Alongside the detectives, the film features prominent clergy members dealing with otherworldly forces. Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Father William, a prison chaplain who presided over Father Sunday’s execution and suffers a severe vocational crisis afterward. Laurence Fishburne plays a priest versed in ancient rituals who steps in when the murders approach uncomfortably close to Julie’s family. Meanwhile, a terrifying demonic force targets Julie’s young son, bringing the supernatural threat directly into the domestic sphere.
| Project Detail | Production & Release Information |
|---|---|
| Director & Writer | Mike Flanagan |
| Lead Cast | Scarlett Johansson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, John Leguizamo, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Sasha Calle, Jacobi Jupe |
| Studios | Universal Pictures, Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Morgan Creek Entertainment, Red Room Pictures |
| Theatrical Release Date | March 12, 2027 |
Flanagan emphasized that the picture will deliver traditional scares while expanding the scope of the mythos beyond standard tropes. “It does have that one job from the title,” Flanagan teased to cbr.com. “We do have to deliver that for sure. But hopefully it’s a lot more than a simple possession story. The connections to the serial-killer mystery are where it gets really fun and takes the possession out of the bedroom and out of parental torment and into something much, much bigger.”
Universal’s Franchise Rebuilding Strategy
The project arrives as Universal and Blumhouse attempt to revitalize a major horror property. Universal paid a reported $400 million in 2021 for the rights to the franchise originated by William Friedkin’s 1973 classic, thewrap.com reported. However, their subsequent 2023 attempt, The Exorcist: Believer, grossed $137 million worldwide against negative reviews, prompting studio executives to scrap planned sequels and hand creative control to Flanagan. The filmmaker has maintained creative independence with carte blanche to steer the franchise into uncharted territory.
Flanagan confirmed that the film avoids nostalgia bait, aiming to craft the scariest film of his career without merely rehashing Friedkin’s original masterpiece. “I think the first job is to tell people they’re not seeing a retread of The Exorcist,” Flanagan told cbr.com. “They’re not seeing any attempt to reboot or remake or to step into the [William] Friedkin film. They’re actually seeing a story within the Exorcist universe that has not been told before, that is unique within the franchise and taking it in a very different direction than it’s gone in the past.”
