Jude Law’s young Pius XIII is a hit among the clergy before he’s even had a chance to get started.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Young Pope has started development on a second season of the new series. The series has not even debuted to the public yet, with its first two episodes just recently premiering at the Venice Film Festival in September. The HBO, Sky, and Canal Plus series is scheduled to premiere in Europe on October 27th, with a US release on HBO in early 2017.
The Young Pope, acclaimed Italian writer/director Paolo Sorrentino’s first TV show, follows Jude Law as the highly unorthodox, chain-smoking, and conniving pope as he establishes himself in a place of power in the Vatican. The 10-episode first season also stars Diane Keaton, James Cromwell, Silvio Orlando, Cecile de France, Ludivine Sagnier, Scott Shepherd, Javier Camara, and Toni Bertorelli.
Lorenzo Mieli, a producer for the company Wildside, first broke the news of a second season at the series’ premiere in Rome. Wildside will most likely partner with HBO, Sky, and Canal Plus again as co-financing partners for season two, though Sky Italia chief of content Andrea Scrosati has said, “We are of course hoping to do it, but nothing is signed yet.”
Besides the actual announcement of a second season, and that Sorrentino is working on it, there hasn’t been much news in regards to the focus of the second season. Considering that the first season of the series is not even set to premiere in the United States until early 2017, the lack of detail is understandable and justified.
The first season of Sorrentino’s series was one of the most expensive television productions for Italy with a budget of around $45 million. The series, which debuted its trailer back in September, is set to premiere on HBO in 2017.
The Young Pope is produced by Wildside, Haut et Court TV, and Mediapro.