Mike Flanagan’s The Exorcist Just Landed a Star Wars Fan Favorite and an Emmy Winner

A Mandalorian star is boarding Mike Flanagan’s new Exorcist, a fresh standalone take arriving from Universal next year — not a sequel to The Exorcist: Believer.

Mike Flanagan has locked in another heavy hitter for his new Exorcist movie, and it is a smart, slightly mischievous choice.

John Leguizamo joins the cast

John Leguizamo has signed on, with chatter suggesting he may be playing an antagonist. Nothing about his role is confirmed yet, because plot details are being kept airtight. If you know Leguizamo only from his voice turn as Gor Koresh on The Mandalorian or as Sid the Sloth in the Ice Age movies, this could be a very different gear for him.

What this Exorcist is (and is not)

Flanagan is not making a sequel to 2023's The Exorcist: Believer. This is being positioned as

'a fresh and bold' new take

The ensemble so far

• John Leguizamo (role under wraps, possibly the antagonist)
• Scarlett Johansson
• Jacobi Jupe
• Chiwetel Ejiofor
• Laurence Fishburne
• Diane Lane
• Sasha Calle

Leguizamo: receipts and range

Leguizamo won a Primetime Emmy in 1999 for Outstanding Performance in a Variety Special for his one-man show John Leguizamo: Freak. On the film side, you have the spread: Die Hard 2 (1990), Super Mario Bros. (1993), Romeo + Juliet (1996), Spawn (1997), Moulin Rouge! (2001), The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), Kick-Ass 2 (2013), John Wick (2014), Encanto (2021), and Bob Trevino Likes It (2024). He will also pop up in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey this summer.

The Flanagan factor

Flanagan wrote the script himself. If you have been keeping score on his career, that tracks: Gerald's Game, The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Life of Chuck all blend character, dread, and a very specific kind of melancholy. Expect precision.

Timing and release

Production kicks off next week. Universal Pictures is set to release the film on March 12, 2027.