Scarlett Johansson Plays an NYPD Detective in The Exorcist: Martyrs

Mike Flanagan’s take on one of horror’s most famous franchises finally has a face. Scarlett Johansson plays NYPD homicide detective Julie Miller in “The Exorcist: Martyrs,” according to an exclusive first look published by Esquire on Tuesday night. Gizmodo also reported the details and said the Universal and Blumhouse film opens in theaters on March 12, 2027.

Flanagan told Esquire that Miller is “a homicide detective with the NYPD and a single mother of a young boy named Max, who’s just turned 12 years old.” Because her job can keep her away from home for days, her mother, Mary, picks up much of the slack, he said. Jacobi Jupe, the young actor from “Hamnet,” plays Max, and Diane Lane plays Mary, Esquire reported.

The story begins with a serial killer known as “Father Sunday,” played by John Leguizamo, whose crimes were staged to evoke the martyrdom of Roman Catholic saints. “John Leguizamo plays a serial killer who Scarlett apprehends very early in the story, and she’s there to witness his execution, which doesn’t go exactly as they expect it to,” Flanagan told Esquire. The killings do not stop with that execution, and Sasha Calle plays fellow homicide detective Gina Restrepo.

Two priests round out the main cast. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Father William, a career prison chaplain who presided over Father Sunday’s execution and has since fallen into a crisis of faith, according to Flanagan. Laurence Fishburne plays another priest familiar with ancient rituals, who is brought in when the case reaches Miller’s own family, Esquire reported.

Flanagan, known for “The Haunting of Hill House” and “Midnight Mass,” described the film as a blend of genres. “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?” he said. He added that there is a possession in the story: “It does have that one job from the title.”

The filmmaker also stressed that the movie stands apart from William Friedkin’s 1973 original. “They’re not seeing any attempt to reboot or remake or to step into the Friedkin film,” Flanagan told Esquire, calling it “a story within the Exorcist universe that has not been told before.” Esquire noted that earlier follow-ups, including 1977’s “Exorcist II: The Heretic” and 2023’s “The Exorcist: Believer,” have often failed to live up to audience expectations, and Flanagan cited William Peter Blatty’s sequel novel “Legion” as an inspiration.

More footage is close. On Wednesday, the film’s official X account shared a 15-second teaser and said the full trailer arrives this Friday, Oct. 9, ComingSoon reported. Follow more studio and casting news on our Hollywood page.

Verification: Character details, cast and Flanagan’s quotes come from Esquire (Anthony Breznican, Oct. 6). The March 12, 2027, release date and the cast summary were confirmed by Gizmodo (Germain Lussier, Oct. 6), and the teaser and Oct. 9 trailer timing by ComingSoon (Christie D’Silva, Oct. 7), citing the film’s official account.