The new Exorcist film will be getting its inspiration from one of the most loved cult classics in the series, but do not think that this will be the sequel to the film. According to Mike Flanagan, who directed The Exorcist: Martyrs, the film was inspired by The Exorcist III, which was released way back in 1990. In the film, which will feature Scarlett Johansson, the audience will be introduced to a new character and mystery.
Mike Flanagan addressed this issue while speaking in an interview during the New York Comic Con 2026, where the trailer for the movie was unveiled. According to him, working on this project with Universal Pictures, Blumhouse, Atomic Monster and Morgan Creek has been a collective effort since all of them were on the same wavelength.
"Thirteen years ago, New York City detective Julie Miller (Johansson) ended the terror reign of satanic serial killer Father Sunday," the plot synopsis reads. "The case made her a hero, and she has thrown herself into her work ever since. Now a new killer scrawls her name in an altar boy's blood on the walls of a church crypt, dragging her back into the darkness she believed she had buried with him."
Unlike many of the instalments before it, this one did not concentrate too much on the earlier instalments. But Mike Flanagan revealed that The Exorcist III was one of his key inspirations for this film. He teased that longtime fans would recognise a subtle thread connecting the two films.
The director even mentioned how the 1990 film contains one of his favourite jump scares in movies. That moment inspired him to pay homage to the earlier film. However, the director made sure that Martyrs would emphasise fear rather than regular jump scares.
In this film, Scarlet Johansson portrays Julia Miller, a detective in the New York Police Department who is tormented by a badly botched execution of a Satanist serial murderer years ago. When a new investigation appears to point to a continuation of the killer's crimes, Julia Miller will confront the disturbing case again. The story also draws inspiration from Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs, with darker lighting and a gritty crime-thriller atmosphere.
The Exorcist III, released in 1990, was produced and directed by William Peter Blatty and is based on his 1983 novel, Legion. In The Exorcist III, George C. Scott played Lieutenant William F. Kinderman, who investigates a series of murders that seem to be committed by a serial killer who is supposedly dead.
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