Jacobi Jupe joins Scarlett Johansson in Mike Flanagan’s new Exorcist movie

Universal Pictures and Peacock forked over an amount somewhere in the range of $400 million to acquire the rights to distribute a trilogy of sequels to the 1973 classic The Exorcist, which were going to be another collaboration between Blumhouse Productions and director David Gordon Green (who previously delivered a trilogy of Halloween sequels for Blumhouse and Universal). By the time Green’s first Exorcist movie, The Exorcist: Believer, reached theatres in October of 2023, the script for a sequel titled The Exorcist: Deceiver, which was scheduled for an April 18, 2025 theatrical release, was ready and the story of the third film was mapped out… Believer‘s box office numbers were okay, the movie pulled in $137 million on a $30 million budget, but Universal was hoping for a lot better than “okay,” and the reactions were largely negative. (You can read our 4/10 review HERE.) So the plans for The Exorcist: Deceiver were set aside and Green left the project. Last year, it was announced that the Exorcist sequel had been passed over to writer/director/producer Mike Flanagan, who was said to be working on a “radical new take” on the franchise. And while Flanagan’s movie won’t be making its originally announced March 13, 2026 release date, it is moving forward. Three weeks ago, it was announced that Black Widow herself Scarlett Johansson will starring in the film. Now, Deadline reports that she’s being joined in the cast by child actor Jacobi Jupe, who is said to have a breakthrough role as the titular character in Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet.

Jupe has also been seen in the psychological thriller miniseries Before, David Lowery’s Peter Pan and Wendy, and the Amazon/Epix series Britannia.

Details Under Wraps

Details on the story Flanagan has crafted for the new Exorcist film are being kept under wraps, as are details on the characters Johansson and Jupe will be playing. The assumption is that Jupe will be playing the son of Johansson’s character.

So, since we don’t know anything for sure, would you like to hear some RUMORs? Here you go: industry scooper Jeff Sneider of The InSneider was told that “after Flanagan was instructed to attach a movie star as the lead of the new Exorcist movie, he reached out to Angelina Jolie, who has been looking for a big comeback vehicle. Meanwhile, Universal gauged the interest of fellow Oscar winner Charlize Theron, who is part of its Fast and Furious franchise as well as the starry ensemble of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which the studio will release next summer. Ultimately, Flanagan and Universal decided to cast Johansson, the star of the studio’s Jurassic World franchise and its hit Sing franchise.” World of Reel reported that the title may be The Exorcist: Martyrs, and that Johansson might be playing “a small-town rookie detective who takes on a case involving inconceivable darkness.” That’s a completely unsubstantiated RUMOR at this time – and if all of the actresses considered for the lead role were in their 40s and 50s, this rookie detective got a much later start than the average rookie detective. We’ll have to wait and see what sort of picture the official information is going to paint for us.

Producers

The new Exorcist movie is coming our way from Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, Morgan Creek Entertainment, and Flanagan’s Red Room Pictures banner. Alexandra Magistro serves as an executive producer for Red Room. David Robinson is producing the film for Morgan Creek, while Jason Blum and Ryan Turek serve as the respective producer and executive producer for Blumhouse-Atomic Monster.

Filming is expected to take place in New York next year.

Are you looking forward to seeing what sort of Exorcist story Mike Flanagan will bring to the screen with Scarlett Johansson and Jacobi Jupe? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

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