The Exorcist: Martyrs Trailer Sends Scarlett Johansson Into a New Demonic Mystery

Universal Pictures has released the first full official trailer for The Exorcist: Martyrs, Mike Flanagan’s new film starring Scarlett Johansson as New York detective Julie Miller. The trailer arrived online on October 9 after its New York Comic Con debut. Universal’s US campaign gives the film a March 12, 2027 theatrical release.

This is a new story in the franchise, rather than the previously planned The Exorcist: Deceiver. Its central question begins with a criminal investigation: why is a case Miller thought she had ended reaching back into her life?

Watch the official trailer

The video above is Universal Pictures’ original upload, running 2 minutes and 24 seconds. It is the full trailer, rather than a fan edit or a commentary video.

What is the story?

According to Universal’s official synopsis, Miller ended the killing spree of Father Sunday thirteen years earlier. A new murder leaves her name written in blood inside a church crypt, pulling her back toward that case.

She investigates with former prison chaplain Father William and rookie detective Gina Restrepo. William heard Sunday’s final confession; the studio describes the new case as a connection between killers across different eras, with consequences for Miller’s family.

Those historical names belong to the film’s fictional premise. They are not evidence of a real supernatural connection between actual crimes.

What the trailer actually shows

The footage places Johansson’s detective in shadowed interiors alongside uniformed police, and cuts to New York street and skyline imagery. That visible police-investigation setting gives the campaign a different starting point from simply showing a family asking for an exorcism.

The studio’s synopsis supplies the characters’ identities and the thirteen-year gap. Brief trailer shots alone cannot settle who is possessed, whether an apparent return is literal, or how the mystery ends. The trailer introduces the problem; it does not establish the film’s eventual explanation.

The poster above is also genuine campaign art: a figure on a staircase, framed by the film’s title and credits. It is not a newly captured trailer still.

Who plays whom?

Universal confirms these principal roles:

Flanagan writes and directs, using characters created by William Peter Blatty. Universal names David Robinson, Jason Blum and Flanagan as producers. The report is about the film’s announced premise and marketing, rather than a review of an unreleased feature.

Is it a sequel to The Exorcist: Believer?

TheWrap’s October 6 title report describes Martyrs as unconnected to the 2023 Believer. That film was intended to launch a trilogy, but the planned follow-up Deceiver was removed from the slate after David Gordon Green’s departure.

Calling this Believer 2 would therefore give readers the wrong production history. It is still an Exorcist film; the available announcement does not provide a complete map of which earlier events or characters its story acknowledges. Returning legacy characters and detailed continuity should not be assumed from the franchise name.

Flanagan’s separate Stephen King television adaptation is covered in our Carrie trailer article. That is a different project, not part of this film’s story.

When does The Exorcist: Martyrs open?

March 12, 2027 is the announced US cinema date. Universal’s American site does not establish a Swedish opening day or a worldwide simultaneous release, and this campaign does not announce a streaming premiere.

Check our release calendar for the explicitly regional listing and Trailers hub for more official previews. Local distributor schedules remain the appropriate source for dates outside the US.