Scarlett Johansson’s Exorcist Reboot Casts Another Marvel Star (and We Know Character Details)

Horror maestro Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, Lights Out) is writing, directing, and producing the next Exorcist film, and he continues stacking up quite a high-pedigree cast of actors to work with. Oscar-nominee Scarlett Johansson is leading the cast, fresh off of revitalizing another franchise with Jurassic World: Rebirth. Oscar-nominee Diane Lane has also joined the cast, but details on the characters the actresses are playing haven’t been revealed. All we know is that Johansson will possibly be playing out a mother-son storyline alongside young actor Jacobi Jupe, who can currently be seen in the Oscar-nominated film, Hamnet.

Today, however, we’re getting word of a new casting for The Exorcist reboot that actually comes with some additional details.

Marvel’s Doctor Strange Star Joins The Exorcist Reboot

According to THR, Marvel’s Doctor Strange star, Chiwetel Ejiofor, has joined The Exorcist reboot cast, having recently worked with Flanagan (and fellow Marvel star Tom Hiddleston) on the Stephen King adaptation The Life of Chuck (2025).

This time, we know that Ejiofor will be playing an “ex-con turned priest,” which is a pretty precarious backstory for any character in an Exorcist project. A priest with a past like that could be seen as easy prey for a demonic entity… The question is, will that turn out to be true?

What Is The Exorcist Reboot About (& What Is It Connected To?)

Filmmaker David Gordon Green successfully relaunched the Halloween franchise in the late 2010s; he tried to do the same with The Exorcist: Believer in 2023, but despite a solid box office ($137 million on a $30 million budget), the film was largely panned by critics and longtime fans alike. That upended the original plans for Exorcist: Believer to kick off an entire trilogy of films; now, Mike Flanagan’s reboot will be another fresh start, even though it will be the seventh film in the series (which also includes a mid-2010s TV spinoff).

Flanagan has already teased that this new reboot will not be a sequel or prequel to the original Exorcist film from director William Friedkin and screenwriter William Peter Blatty. Instead, it will be a new story “set in the universe” of The Exorcist.

“I chased The Exorcist very aggressively because I was convinced I had something that I could add,” Flanagan previously explained to THR. “This is an opportunity to do something that I believe has never been done within the franchise — something that honors what came before it but isn’t built on nostalgia.”

Flanagan’s screenplay and vision must be compelling, as Chiwetel Ejiofor now marks the fourth actor in the cast who is no stranger to Oscars recognition.

The Exorcist will hit theaters on March 12, 2027.

52 Years On, the Scariest Horror Movie Franchise Is Getting Its First TV Series (And Another Sequel Film)