Russell Crowe is a pretend priest plagued by very real demons in the creepy first trailer for new horror movie The Exorcism

The first trailer for The Exorcism is here, and it's got all we can expect from a Russell Crowe-led scary movie.

Directed by The Final Girls' writer Joshua John Miller, in his directorial debut, the film sees the Gladiator star play Anthony Miller, "a troubled actor" whose dark habits start to reappear during the production of his supernatural horror flick. As filming continues, his estranged daughter (Fear Street's Ryan Simpkins) becomes increasingly concerned that her pops is "slipping back into past addictions" – or might there be something more sinister going on?

Sam Worthington, Chlöe Bailey, Adam Goldberg, Samantha Mathis, and David Hyde Pierce round out the supporting cast. Principal photography on the movie, which was originally titled The Georgetown Project, wrapped way back in December 2019, so genre fans have been waiting a long time to see what the cast and crew have conjured up.

Before the teaser, which you can watch above, was unveiled, Vertical confirmed (via the Motion Picture Association) that The Exorcism would be R-rated, due to "language, some violent content, sexual references and brief drug use."

Crowe is no stranger to dealing with demons, having recently played the Vatican's go-to ghoul guy Father Gabriele Amorth in The Pope's Exorcist. A sequel was confirmed in April 2023, though we've heard little of the follow-up since then. We'll be sure to keep you posted on any news as it comes in.

The Exorcism releases in select US theaters on June 7, ahead of it streaming exclusively via Shudder. For more, check out our list of the best horror movies of all time, or our guide to the most exciting upcoming horror movies heading our way.

Amy West

I am an Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been published by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film magazine.