Scarlett Johansson Says the Exorcist Is Why She Can’t Watch Horror Movies, and Now She’s Starring in a New One

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Scarlett Johansson at the "Paper Tiger" Gala during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at the Royal Festival Hall in London

A first teaser has dropped for The Exorcist: Martyrs, Mike Flanagan’s radical reboot of the franchise that arrives in theaters March 12, 2027. Scarlett Johansson, who has said the original 1973 Exorcist is the reason she can’t watch horror movies at all, stars.

"Paper Tiger" Gala - The 70th BFI London Film Festival
At London’s Royal Festival Hall on October 10, 2026, the “Paper Tiger” Gala of the 70th BFI London Film Festival drew Scarlett Johansson. Photo by Tristan Fewings / Getty Images for BFI.

“I think the Exorcist, the original Exorcist is the reason why I can’t watch horror movies. I just cannot watch them. And I think it actually was because I saw that movie very young.”

Johansson plays NYPD homicide detective Julie Miller, investigating a murderer known as Father Sunday (John Leguizamo), a priest (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and a new string of killings that put her 12-year-old son in danger.

The film is Universal’s latest attempt to revive the property after the previous reboot effort collapsed following the underwhelming The Exorcist: Believer.

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