Academy Award winner Russell Crowe goes to war with both demons and the Vatican in the first trailer for the upcoming supernatural horror flick, The Pope’s Exorcist. Released courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Crowe leads The Pope’s Exorcist as Father Gabriele Amorth, who is called upon after a young boy is possessed. But what Amorth discovers goes far beyond a simple exorcism. Check out the first trailer for The Pope's Exorcist below.
The Pope's Exorcist is inspired by the actual files of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, played by Gladiator and Unhinged star Russell Crowe, and his memoirs An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories. The Pope’s Exorcist follows Amorth as he investigates a young boy’s terrifying possession, uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden.
Those watching the trailer will instantly be taken aback by Crowe’s accent, which hopefully will not give us all flashbacks to his scenery-chewing, oddly accented performance as Zeus in last year’s Marvel outing Thor: Love and Thunder. However, once you have shaken the sounds of Crowe’s Zeus from your mind (you may need to physically shake your head), Crowe looks decidedly more serious and solemn as Father Gabriele Amorth, a man tasked with carrying out exorcisms.
Speaking to a High Table of his peers, Father Amorth explains that, the vast majority of the time, those who believe they are possessed are instead in need of medical help and care. But there is nonetheless that 2% who do find their lives snatched away from them by demons, or as Father Amorth puts it, by “evil.” It certainly looks like Father Amorth is about to discover how evil things truly are.
The Pope's Exorcist Comes from Overlord Director Julius Avery
The Pope’s Exorcist comes from the mind of Overlord director Julius Avery, who returns to the horror genre following his Nazi zombie critical hit back in 2018. Produced by J. J. Abrams through his Bad Robot Productions banner, Overlord follows a small group of American soldiers who are dropped behind enemy lines the day before D-Day and stumble upon terrifying Nazi experiments. Displaying all frights, blood, and gore that will no doubt make up part of The Pope’s Exorcist, Avery should be the perfect filmmaker to bring this creepy tale of exorcism to life on the big screen.
Starring alongside Russell Crowe is Daniel Zovatto (Station Eleven, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels), Alex Essoe (Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Bly Manor), Laurel Marsden (Ms. Marvel), Cornell S. John (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Gangs of London), newcomer Peter DeSouza-Feighoney, Ralph Ineson (The Witch, The Green Knight), and Franco Nero (John Wick: Chapter 2, Django Unchained) as The Pope.
Written by Chester Hastings, R. Dean McCreary, and Evan Spiliotopoulos, The Pope's Exorcist is scheduled to be released in the United States on Apr. 14 by Sony Pictures Releasing. The horror outing has been rated R for “Violent content, language, sexual references, and some nudity.”