‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ Finds Its Pope In ‘Django’s Franco Nero; Laurel Marsden, Cornell S. John & Peter DeSouza-Feighoney Also Set For Screen Gems Thriller
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: Legendary Italian actor Franco Nero (Django) has been tapped to play the Pope in Screen Gems’ supernatural thriller The Pope’s Exorcist, with Laurel Marsden (Ms.
Marvel), Cornell S. John (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald) and newcomer Peter DeSouza-Feighoney also now set for the film from director Julius Avery.
They join an ensemble led by Academy Award winner Russell Crowe, which also includes Alex Essoe and Daniel Zovatto, as previously announced.The film centers on Father Gabriele Amorth (Crowe), the legendary Italian priest who performed over 100,000 exorcisms for the Vatican—drawing on his international bestselling memoirs An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories. (Father Amorth, who died in 2016, left behind a trove of additional accounts of his exploits pulling the devil out of people all over the world.
Screen Gems acquired his life rights for the project, as well as rights to his memoirs.) Details as to the roles Marsden, John and DeSouza-Feighoney will be playing haven’t been disclosed.The Pope’s Exorcist has been gestating at Screen Gems for a number of years, with Ángel Gómez having previously been attached to direct as of 2020.
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