With the critical and commercial failure of “The Exorcist: Believer,” you would think movie studios would get the picture and realize that “The Exorcist” franchise had long since overstayed its welcome. But because Universal Pictures spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the rights to this long-running franchise, they still need to get their money back. Clearly, they will do anything to keep this from looking like a horrific investment.

So, David Gordon Green is out, and in his place now is writer and director Mike Flanagan who has spent much of his career adapting the literary works of Stephen King to the silver screen. With “The Exorcist: Martyrs,” Flanagan looks to reboot the franchise with what has been described as a “radical new take,” and he was very aggressive in getting the director’s job as he felt he could bring something new to this franchise which some will say has seen one sequel too many.

And now, we have the first trailer for “The Exorcist: Martyrs” which will be arriving in theatres everywhere come March of 2027. One hand, it makes the upcoming film look quite creepy, but its also makes it look like a movie. When it comes to William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” it was not so much a movie as it was an experience (and an incredibly visceral at that). The sequels have either failed to live up to that experience or have dared to take things in a more cerebral direction. With “Martyrs,” I am not sure where this sequel or reboot is going to land, but I have a feeling it is going to be more of a movie than an experience.

The trailer has a clever beginning as we see Detective Julie Miller (Scarlett Johansson) descend down a number of steps which may not be the same ones in Georgetown, but they certainly reminded of those same steps we saw Jason Miller tumble down all those years ago. Julie comes up to a murder scene involving an altar boy who her partner, Detective Gina Restrepo (Sasha Calle from “The Flash”), tells her is about 15 to 16 years old. We do not see all the gory details of this altar boy’s death as Julie’s head is in the way, and Universal Pictures will not benefit from a restricted trailer at this point in time. But to see this boy being crucified upside down is quite the image, and the medal we see being pulled out of his mouth looks exactly like the one from the original film.

The rest of the trailer features a number of images which have quickly seared into my memory, we see John Leguizamo who is playing a character about to be executed by lethal injection, something which has not been very effective in Tennessee recently. Laurence Fishburne shows up as a priest who looks to have many years etched on his face (please do not ask me how I cam to this conclusion). And an especially prominent figure here is Julie’s son, Max Miller (Jacobi Jupe), who looks to provide this film’s innocent moments in addition to its most terrifying ones.

But for me, one of the most memorable images comes with Julie entering a room and then stopping in place to where I was convinced someone or something would jump at her when least expected. Instead, her son Max asks her, “What is it mom?”

To this, Julie replies, “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me that.” And when it comes to Johansson, she delivers this line in a way which is not the least big theatrical or demonic, and it makes the dialogue all the more terrifying as a result.

I also have to add; we never hear Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” played once in this trailer. Maybe this film will indeed be a radical new take.

After watching this first trailer for “The Exorcist: Martyrs,” I have to be honest and say I cannot help but be intrigued by what Flanagan has to offer us. At the same time, I am quickly and often reminded of how the original “Exorcist” was a visceral experience more than anything else. This one, however, looks like just another horror movie. Can Flanagan and company come even close to duplicating what Friedkin gave us years ago, or can they only hope to make a movie which is only slightly better than “The Exorcist: Believer?”

Well, it cannot be any worse than “Exorcist II: The Heretic.” Can it?

Check out the trailer below.