Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mike Flanagan will reunite on the set of The Exorcist, the Blumhouse-Atomic Monster and Morgan Creek Entertainment’s new take on the classic horror. The pair previously worked together on The Life of Chuck, an adaptation of a Stephen King story.

Ejiofor joins Scarlett Johansson, Jacobi Jupe, and Diane Lane on the call sheet. The actor will reportedly be playing an ex-con turned priest.

The film is the studios’ latest attempt to revive the franchise following the companies’ panned The Exorcist: Believer, released in 2023. Flanagan wrote the script and is both directing and producing the new feature. The filmmaker has previously made clear that his take on the iconic IP will be neither a remake nor a sequel, but set in the Exorcist “universe”.

The original film, based on the novel by William Peter Blatty and directed by William Friedkin, centred on the demonic possession of a young girl and the priests who tried to free her. The various follow-ups mostly featured stories focused on the grown-up girl, the priests’ backstories, or other demonic cases the detectives from the first film had investigated.

“The Exorcist is one of the reasons I became a filmmaker, and it is an honour to have the chance to try something fresh, bold and terrifying within its universe,” said Flanagan of his involvement when it was announced in May 2024.

Chiwetel Ejiofor is best known for 12 Years A Slave, Children of Men, The Martian, as well as roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and television shows like The Man Who Fell To Earth.

Universal Pictures will release The Exorcist theatrically and has set a March 12th, 2027, release date.