Alex Ritman Robert Harris’ novel “Conclave,” a political papal thriller set in the Vatican as cardinals jostle and conspire to elect a new Pope, was released in September 2016, coincidentally just weeks after House Productions, which would produce the film adaptation, had been officially launched by Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell.
Some eight years later, and “Conclave” — directed by Edward Berger and with Ralph Fiennes in the lead role — is now one of the titles to beat in awards season, going into the Oscars with eight nominations (including best film) and the BAFTAs with leading haul of 12, and with a box office already approaching $90 million.
For House, which worked on several noted film and TV projects in the meantime, producing the Zac Efron-fronted wrestling drama “The Iron Claw,” exec producing last year’s Oscar winner “The Zone of Interest” (considered by many to be one of the top films of 2023) and being behind the hit BBC drama “Sherwood,” “Conclave” has already become its biggest hit to date (and, for Ross and Howell, their first Oscar nomination as producers).
According to the pair, who serve as co-CEOs at House, even before they had formally announced their outfit in August 2016 they had already started receiving early chapters of the book via friends of Harris’ editor, who they shared an office with at the time. “We read the chapters, hungrily, and then waited for more,” says Ross. “And then I went to have a meeting with Robert and convince him, with quite a lot of hard work, that we were the right company and that he would have a good time with us, even though we were a new company at the time.” House may well have been exceptionally new at the time, but Ross and Howell were anything but.
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