Scarlett Johansson takes the lead role in The Exorcist: Martyrs, a supernatural crime thriller written and directed by Mike Flanagan. She plays Julie Miller, a homicide detective with the New York Police Department who is drawn back into a case she thought was closed. The film is set to open in cinemas on March 12, 2027, through Universal Pictures, and it is the seventh film in the Exorcist franchise.
ExtraTV reported on October 31, 2026, that Scarlett Johansson’s film works as a sequel to The Exorcist III, the 1990 film directed by William Peter Blatty. That link matters because the new story revisits a character thread from the earlier films rather than continuing the story of The Exorcist: Believer, the 2023 film that had been planned as the start of a new trilogy. Flanagan came aboard in 2024 to write, direct and produce a new chapter set in the same world, and his film tells a standalone story with new central characters.
Scarlett Johansson’s character, Julie Miller, is a single mother to a 12 year old son named Max, played by Jacobi Jupe. Her mother Mary, played by Diane Lane, has moved in to help raise Max while Julie works long hours on homicide cases. Thirteen years before the events of the film, Julie stopped a satanic serial killer known as Father Sunday, played by John Leguizamo. Father Sunday staged his murders to resemble the martyrdoms of Roman Catholic saints, and his case left a mark on Julie that the new film brings back into view.
Scarlett Johansson and the Father Sunday case
The story for Scarlett Johansson turns when a new string of murders begins and the pattern points back to the old case. Julie watches the execution of Father Sunday at the start of the film, but the killing does not end with his death. The trailer released on October 9, 2026, shows Julie holding a crime scene photograph and later walking into a crypt where she finds the remains of a slaughtered altar boy. Her name appears written in blood, which ties the new murders to her own household.
Scarlett Johansson joins a large cast
Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Father William opposite Scarlett Johansson, a former prison chaplain who heard Father Sunday’s final confession. His character enters the story when the murders resume, and the trailer shows him at an altar in full vestments. Laurence Fishburne plays Father Nichol, a respected priest, while Scoot McNairy plays Clay Silver, a paroled convict. Gil Bellows plays Peter Nicks, a former acolyte of Father Sunday, and John Gallagher Jr., Hamish Linklater and Carl Lumbly also appear.
Carla Gugino and Kate Siegel, who have worked with Flanagan on earlier projects, are also in the cast, along with Samantha Sloyan and Rahul Kohli. Sloyan has described the film in interviews as a frightening piece of work from Flanagan, while Flanagan has singled out a scene near the end of the film played by Lumbly as important to understanding what is happening in the story. The producers are David Robinson, Jason Blum and Flanagan, with Alexandra Magistro and Ryan Turek as executive producers. Blumhouse, Atomic Monster and Morgan Creek Entertainment are behind the production, with Flanagan’s Red Room Pictures also involved.
Johansson joined the project in November 2025, and filming began in New York in March 2026. Flanagan is known for The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, The Fall of the House of Usher and the Stephen King adaptations Doctor Sleep and The Life of Chuck. His approach in the trailer is muted and procedural, with long takes in dark rooms and a focus on police work before the supernatural elements take over. That tone sets the film apart from possession stories that open with the horror at full force.
Scarlett Johansson and the March 2027 release
Scarlett Johansson’s film was originally planned for earlier dates, including April 18, 2025, and later March 13, 2026, before it was removed from Universal’s schedule in June 2025. It now has a firm date of March 12, 2027. The first teaser arrived in early October 2026, followed by the full trailer on October 9. That trailer drew wide attention online, and by mid October the film ranked among the most popular upcoming titles tracked by IMDb, according to CBR.
Universal Pictures will release Scarlett Johansson’s film in cinemas on March 12, 2027, and no streaming date has been announced. The cast list, trailer and release date are confirmed, while plot details beyond the trailer remain limited to what Flanagan and Universal have shown so far.