After an absence of nearly two decades from the big screen, The Exorcist franchise is making a spine-tingling return just in time for this Halloween season with “The Exorcist: Believer.” Fans are in for a haunting treat as a brand-new official trailer for the film has just been unveiled.

The trailer offers a tantalizing glimpse into this legacy sequel, reuniting audiences with Chris MacNeil (portrayed by Ellen Burstyn), a central character from the original film. The bone-chilling opening scene features a possessed young girl confronting MacNeil with a sinister message: “Are you looking for Regan? She burns in hell.”

The story then transports viewers back in time to introduce the two young girls at the heart of “The Exorcist: Believer,” both destined to fall under the influence of an evil demon. As the trailer poses the ominous question, who will survive this ordeal, and what will remain of them?

Directed by David Gordon Green, this fresh installment of The Exorcist franchise is a collaboration between Universal, Blumhouse, and Morgan Creek, setting the stage for an exciting new trilogy. The first film in this series is set to hit theaters on October 6, 2023, with Leslie Odom Jr. taking on a starring role.

The plot synopsis reads as follows: “Since the tragic loss of his pregnant wife in a devastating Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.) has been raising their daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett), on his own. However, when Angela and her friend Katherine (Olivia Marcum) mysteriously vanish in the woods, only to reappear three days later with no memory of their ordeal, a series of harrowing events unfolds. Victor is forced to confront the darkest depths of evil, and in his desperation, he seeks out the only person alive who has faced a similar horror: Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn).”

Joining the cast are Ann Dowd (“Hereditary”), Raphael Sbarge (“Gaslit”), and Jennifer Nettles (“The Righteous Gemstones”).

The screenplay for “Believer” was penned by Peter Sattler (“Broken Diamonds”) and David Gordon Green, with a story co-authored by Green, Scott Teems (“Halloween Kills”), and Danny McBride (“Halloween”).

The Exorcist franchise has been absent from the big screen since the 2005 release of “Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist,” an alternate version of the preceding year’s “Exorcist: The Beginning.” These films followed in the wake of the 1977 sequel “The Exorcist II: The Heretic” and 1990’s “The Exorcist III.”

More recently, “The Exorcist” found success as a short-lived television series on Fox, captivating audiences with its clever integration into the same world as the original classic.