Jude Law’s Pius XIII is not your father’s pope.
The first full trailer showing off Law’s smoking and sinning American pope in upcoming drama mini-series The Young Pope was released yesterday. As Deadline reports, the timing of the trailer’s release lines up with the premiere of the first two episodes of the mini-series at the Venice Film Festival.
The Young Pope follows Law’s Pius XIII/Lenny Belardo on his journey as the youngest and first American pope. The new trailer for the mini-series plays up Pius XIII’s hunger for power, and also shows those within the Vatican that his lust for power puts him in contention with.
The 10-part series is a joint production between Sky, HBO, and Canal Plus. The Young Pope is first set to air on October 21st on Sky Atlantic in Italy and Germany, then airing in the UK on October 27th, and finally airing on HBO in the US sometime in February. Along with Law the series stars Diane Keaton, James Cromwell, Silvio Orlando, Cécile de France, Ludivine Sagnier, Scott Shepherd, Javier Cámara, and Toni Bertorelli. All 10 episodes of the series were written and directed by Youth and The Great Beauty director Paolo Sorrentino.
From what Sorrentino had to say about The Young Pope, there is plenty of deceit and complexity involved with Pius XIII and the members of the Vatican.
“Young and charming, his election might seem the result of a simple and effective media strategy by the College of Cardinals. But appearances can be deceptive, especially in the place and among the people who have chosen the great mystery of God as the guiding light of their existence,” said Sorrentino. “That place is the Vatican and those people are the leaders of the Catholic Church. And the most mysterious and contradictory figure of all turns out to be Pius XIII himself. Shrewd and naive, old-fashioned and ruthless, Pius XIII tries to walk the long path of human loneliness to find a God for mankind. And for himself.”
Sky, HBO, and Canal Plus’ The Young Pope is produced by Wildside, Haut et Court TV, and Mediapro.