Los Angeles: Hollywood actor Laurence Fishburne has joined the cast of Scarlett Johansson in the upcoming reboot of horror hit ‘The Exorcist’.
Mike Flanagan is tackling the project, which will tell an all-new story and is not a sequel to 2023’s ‘The Exorcist: Believer’, according to ‘Variety’.
Fishburne, known for movies such as ‘The Matrix’ series, ‘Man of Steel’ and the ‘John Wick’ franchise, will feature alongside Johansson, Jacobi Jupe, Diane Lane and Chiwetel Ejiofor in the film.
The project will shoot in New York City and is set for a wide theatrical release in March 2027 from ‘Universal Pictures’. It will be produced by ‘Blumhouse-Atomic Monster’ and ‘Morgan Creek Entertainment’ with Flanagan through his ‘Red Room Pictures’.
The horror franchise began with William Friedkin’s landmark 1973 film ‘The Exorcist’, adapted from William Peter Blatty’s novel, which became one of the most popular horror movies ever made, noted for its shocking imagery, religious themes and critical acclaim. It was followed by ‘Exorcist II: The Heretic’ (1977), while Blatty returned to write and direct ‘The Exorcist III’ (1990).
The series was later expanded with prequels ‘Exorcist: The Beginning’ (2004) and ‘Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist’ (2005), two different versions of the same origin story about Father Merrin. The franchise was revived on television with the ‘The Exorcist’ series (2016-2018) and then returned to cinemas with a new sequel, ‘The Exorcist: Believer’.