‘The Exorcist’: Mike Flanagan’s New Installment Starring Scarlett Johansson Adds ‘Hamnet’ Star Jacobi Jupe!!

Mike Flanagan’s hotly awaited The Exorcist film has just tapped an up-and-coming talent. Hot off his run in Hamnet, the latest critically-acclaimed piece from filmmaker Chloé Zhao, Jacobi Jupe is adding his name to the call sheet to star alongside the previously announced Scarlett Johansson. From Blumhouse and Universal, the latest installment in the long-running horror franchise will give audiences something completely different from what they’ve seen before all while staying true to the William Friedkin-helmed movie that started it all. Considering the swing and miss that filmmaker David Gordon Green took with 2023’s The Exorcist: Believer, the beloved and chilling horror series needs a boost to get it back on the map and, considering the names involved, things are looking promising.

As of right now, specific plot details are being kept under wraps, but the movie is said to be neither a sequel nor prequel, which points to the likelihood of a standalone tale in the haunting universe first created by author William Peter Blatty. Additionally, no character details surrounding Jupe’s character have been revealed, but he’s said to be playing Johansson’s son. Right now, production is eyeing a March 2026 start date for cameras to get up and rolling in New York.

With more than $660 million in the bank across the entire franchise, The Exorcist has been around since Friedkin debuted his 1973 film. The movie was — and continues to be — considered one of the scariest of its kind, following a famous actress whose twelve-year-old daughter falls under the possession of a demon. Two priests rush to her side, but the terror is just beginning. The flagship feature quickly amassed a following and proved itself at the box office, launching a series that now consists of six — soon to be seven — installments.

Where You’ve Seen Jacobi Jupe Before

Before Hamnet took center stage earlier this fall, Jupe first gained steam as Michael Darling in David Lowery’s fantastical imagining, Peter Pan and Wendy. Earlier this year, he appeared opposite Billy Crystal in the Apple TV miniseries, Before, and will next work alongside Scream Queen and Longlegs star, Maika Monroe, in Zachary Wigon’s Victorian Psycho. For his work in Hamnet, in which he stars in the titular role alongside Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, the young actor has been nominated for the London Film Critics Circle and also landed a Critics’ Choice Award nomination.