Russell Crowe is entering his exorcism era! You might remember his turn as a priest in the 2023 film The Pope’s Exorcist. This year, Crowe is donning the clerical collar once again in The Exorcism, a film from writer-director Joshua John Miller, whose father was in The Exorcist in a memorable role.
“The origins of the film stem from my childhood spent watching my father, Jason Miller, playing the doomed Father Karras flinging himself out a window at the climax of The Exorcist,” Miller said in a statement. “If that wasn’t haunting enough on its own, my dad never shied away from telling me stories of just how ‘cursed’ the movie was: the mysterious fires that plagued the production, the strange deaths, the lifelong injuries—the list went on and on. The lore of any ‘cursed film’ has captivated me ever since.”
As the trailer released today reveals, Crowe plays an actor with a troubled past who is hired to play a priest in a horror production that is supposedly cursed. He’s there with his daughter (Ryan Simpkins), who sees him slipping and goes to get help from a priest played by David Hyde Pierce.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe stars as Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play.
“With The Exorcism, we wanted to update the possession movie formula (‘Heroic man rescues woman from forces she’s too weak and simple to battle herself!’) for a world where no one group owns goodness and decency over another,” said Miller. “We were gifted with an extraordinary cast and creative team to tell a story about how we’re all vulnerable to darkness, to perpetuating it, if we fail to face our demons.”
In addition to Crowe, Simpkins, and Pierce, the movie stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, and Adam Goldberg. It was co-written by Miller and M.A. Fortin and produced by Kevin Williamson, Ben Fast, and Bill Block.
The Exorcism is set to premiere in theaters on June 7, 2024.
Check out the trailer below.
