Sky has released a new The Young Pope trailer. The miniseries, created and directed by Oscar-winner Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty) follows the first American Pope, Lenny Belardo (Jude Law) aka “Pius XIII” as he begins his rule over the Catholic Church. The show will find Lenny trying to navigate the intrigue of papal Rome as he faces off against friends and foes.
It’s hard to watch this trailer and not crack up a little bit. When you have an angry James Cromwell spouting lines like “I was supposed to be Pope!”, you have to chuckle a bit. That’s because the role of the Pope is far diminished from its former glory. He’s not longer an influence that kings and queens have to woo. Yes, he sits at the head of a Church that boasts more than a billion members worldwide, but at the same time, the lens at which we view him is more of a figurehead. People can still live their lives religiously, but secular nations and their leaders play a far bigger role than the Pope. It will be interesting to see how Sorrentino balances our modern view of the Pope with the awe his story seems to have for its central figure.
Check out The Young Pope trailer below. The series also stars Diane Keaton, Silvio Orlando, Scott Shepherd, Cécile de France, Javier Cámara, Ludivine Sagnier, and Toni Bertorelli. The series premieres on Sky Atlantic on October 27th and on HBO in February 2017.
Here’s the official synopsis for The Young Pope:
From Paolo Sorrentino, director of the Academy Award®-winning 'The Great Beauty,' ‘The Young Pope’ tells the controversial story of the beginning of Pius XIII's pontificate. The ten-episode series stars Jude Law as the complex and conflicted Pius XIII, the first American pope. The cast includes Diane Keaton as Sister Mary, an American nun living in Vatican City, as well as Silvio Orlando, Scott Shepherd, Cécile de France, Javier Cámara, Ludivine Sagnier, Toni Bertorelli and James Cromwell.
