On Wednesday, Universal Pictures dropped a teaser offering a glimpse into director Mike Flanagan's upcoming film The Exorcist: Martyrs. The film stars Scarlett Johansson as a homicide detective, who, according to reports, looks into a series of murders with a supernatural connection. The The Exorcist: Martyrs teaser offers a first look at the characters of Johansson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and John Leguizamo, among others. With the teaser, Universal Pictures has confirmed the title of Flanagan's standalone horror film inspired by 1990's The Exorcist III.
Ejiofor plays a priest in the upcoming film, whereas Leguizamo reportedly portrays a satanic serial killer. At one point in the teaser, Leguizamo's character can be seen tied up to a bed with law enforcement officers around him. Meanwhile, the teaser offers glimpses of Johansson's and Jacobi Jupe's characters, who look terrified of a mysterious entity.
The upcoming film marks Scarlett Johansson's first out-and-out horror film. The actor's credits include the 2002 horror-comedy Eight Legged Freaks and 2013's Under the Skin, which has elements of science-fiction, horror and thriller.
The film also stars Laurence Fishburne, Sasha Calle, Diane Lane, Rahul Kohli, Carla Gugino, Kate Siegel, Samantha Sloyan, Robert Longstreet, and Hamish Linklater. It is set for a March 12 release in theatres. The The Exorcist: Martyrs teaser arrives in advance of the trailer for the film that is set to be out on October 09, Friday.
The film continues Mike Flanagan's love affair with the horror genre. While Flanagan took a break from the genre with 2024's The Life of Chuck, he is known for horror films, such as Oculus (2013), Hush (2016), and Gerald's Game (2017), as well as series such as The Haunting of Hill House (2018), The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), and The Fall of the House of Usher (2020). Flanagan's latest projects also include the horror series Carrie, which is now out on Prime Video.
