Jacobi Jupe, recent standout star of Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet, will star opposite Scarlett Johansson in Blumhouse and Universal’s upcoming adaptation of horror cinema classic The Exorcist.

The film is the studios’ latest attempt to revive the franchise following the companies’ panned The Exorcist: Believer, released in 2023. Mike 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.

Jacobi Jupe, the younger brother of A Quiet Place and Honey Boy actor Noah Jupe (who also appears in Hamnet) stars as the titular character in Zhao’s latest alongside Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. The film is considered a top award contender in the coming season. Jupe has also starred in the Apple+ psychological thriller limited series Before, and played opposite Jude Law in Peter Pan and Wendy. His next acting venture will be the horror thriller Victorian Psycho with Maika Monroe.