Mike Flanagan has been hard at work on his new Exorcist movie starring Scarlett Johansson, and the director has taken to social media to announce that production has wrapped.
I had a chuckle at a comment left by Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller, who said, “Wait. Did Prince possess someone?“
Thankfully, this will NOT be a sequel to The Exorcist: Believer. David Gordon Green’s movie was intended to be the first of a new trilogy (The Exorcist: Deceiver had even been given a 2025 release date), but the lacklustre box office and scathing reviews forced the studio to rethink its plans. Flanagan was then brought in to develop a “radical new take” on the franchise.
In addition to Johansson, the film also stars Diane Lane, Jacobi Jupe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Laurence Fishburne, Sasha Calle, John Leguizamo, and more. A number of Flanagan’s frequent collaborators are also on hand, including Rahul Kohli, Hamish Linklater, Carla Gugino, Samantha Sloyan, Kate Siegel, and more.
The Exorcist stands as a timeless horror masterpiece, even if its follow-ups (save for the underrated Exorcist III) never quite found their footing. But if anyone has the skill to summon something worthy of the original’s legacy, it’s Flanagan — a filmmaker who has proven he can do slow-burn horror like few others. I hope he can pull it off.
In his review, our own Chris Bumbray called The Exorcist: Believer an abysmal, dull attempt to relaunch the franchise. “It’s supposed to be the first entry in a new trilogy of Exorcist films, but the movie is so abysmal one shouldn’t hold out too much hope for a follow-up,” Bumbray wrote. “While it may have a strong box-office opening, word of mouth seems sure to be dire. The only thing that saves Exorcist: Believer from being called the worst Exorcist movie ever is the fact that this particular series has some very bad entries.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review right here.
The new Exorcist movie is set to be released in theaters on March 12, 2027.