Chiwetel Ejiofor to Star Alongside Scarlett Johansson in New EXORCIST Movie for Blumhouse/Universal
Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Old Guard, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness) has joined the cast of Mike Flanagan’s Untitled Exorcist film.
The project reteams Ejiofor with Flanagan, who directed him in The Life of Chuck. Flanagan wrote the script and is directing and producing the new feature that he promises is a “fresh and bold” take on the material.
The movie is not a remake nor a sequel but set in the Exorcist “universe.” Ejiofor joins Scarlett Johansson, Jacobi Jupe, and Diane Lane in the previously announced cast.
THR reports that sources say the actor will be playing an ex-con turned priest. (Johansson is playing Jupe’s mother.)
The original Exorcist, based on the novel by William Peter Blatty and directed by William Friedkin, focused on the demonic possession of a young girl and the priests that try to save her.
The film was nominated for 10 Oscars. The various follow-ups mostly featured stories centered on the girl (now grown-up), the backstories of the priests, or other demonic cases detectives from the first movie investigated.
Universal Pictures will release the new film theatrically and has set a March 12, 2027 release date. The project is due to shoot in New York City.