The power of Christ compels Mike Flanagan to cast the devil's latest plaything. THR reports that Flanagan has hired Hamnet breakout Jacobi Jupe for his upcoming Exorcist reboot, starring Scarlet Johansson. While there are no plot details -- aside from the assumption that the film centers on a possessed child who requires an exorcism -- the outlet believes Jupe will play Johansson's character's son.
Jupe's casting is perhaps unsurprising given that scene in Hamnet, which sees the young actor writhing in bed and yelling at the Lord. It's a visceral and committed performance reminiscent of The Witch's Harvey Scrimshaw, except that kid threw up a whole-ass apple. The gauntlet has been thrown down. It's your move, Jupe.
Written from the heart and soul of Mike Flanagan, who is directing the latest attempt to revive the sequel-cursed franchise, the film came together after NBCUniversal spent $400 million on the rights to the series and ended up with David Gordon Green's The Exorcist: Believer, which topped out at $136 million worldwide. The film is expected to start filming in March, after Flanagan finishes the TV reboot of another child-centric horror tale: Carrie.