In less than a month, Shia LaBeouf will return to the big screen thanks to acclaimed director Abel Ferrara (Zeros and Ones) in Padre Pio, a film that inspired the actor to convert to Catholicism since he plays a priest in it.
A few weeks ago, it was confirmed that Gravitas Ventures would be the company in charge of distributing this new project, which will hit theaters on June 2. After the announcement of the release date, the full trailer for the film is now out:
Check out the synopsis for Padre Pio:
“In this powerful drama directed by acclaimed filmmaker Abel Ferrara, a young priest, Padre Pio (Shia LaBeouf), begins his ministry at a remote Capuchin monastery in Italy’s San Giovanni Rotondo. WWI has ended and Italian soldiers — broken but victorious — are returning to the impoverished village ruled by wealthy land owners. As events surrounding the first free election in Italy threaten to tear the village apart, Padre Pio struggles with his own personal demons, ultimately emerging from his spiritual anguish to become one of Catholicism’s most venerated figures.”
The religious-themed story, penned by Maurizio Braucci and Ferrara himself, is inspired by the real story of Pio de Pietrelcina, an Italian Catholic friar and priest, highly venerated in the Catholic Church for having miraculous gifts and for presenting stigmata.
The movie also stars Cristina Chiriac, Marco Leonardi, Asia Argento, Vincenzo Crea, Luca Lionello, Brando Pacitto, Stella Mastrantonio, and Salvatore Ruocco, and debuted last year at the Venice Film Festival.
Shia LaBeouf Had a Transformation Playing Padre Pio
Back in 2014, Shia LaBeouf made his first major conversion from Judaism to Christianity while filming Fury, a war film directed by David Ayer where he played soldier Boyd "Bible" Swan. Seven years later, while working on Padre Pio, LaBeouf took another turn in his spiritual life and joined the Catholic Church.
In an interview with Bishop Robert Barron, the actor recalled he was in a very dark place and his approach to God saved him:
"The reach-out had happened. I was already there, I had nowhere to go. This was the last stop on the train. There was nowhere else to go - in every sense," the 36-year-old shares. I know now God was using my ego to draw me to Him, was drawing me away from worldly desires. It was all happening simultaneously. But there would have been no impetus for me to get in the car and drive up (to the monastery) if I didn't think, 'Oh, I'm gonna save my career.'"
To prepare for the role that transformed his life, LaBeouf turned to another well-known Catholic actor, Mel Gibson. They now have become friends after the acclaimed actor and director helped him out for the movie:
“I’m quite close with Mel Gibson. I didn’t know how to get to Latin Mass. I didn’t know how to find it. You can’t, like, go online and type it up and find it. And he introduced me to a certain Latin Mass, because he’s very into that traditionalist thing.”
From Gravitas Ventures, Padre Pio will release in theaters on June 2, 2023.