Julius Avery, the director of 2018’s Overlord, is heading back into the horror genre with The Pope’s Exorcist, and more casting news has been revealed by Deadline this afternoon.
From Sony’s Screen Gems, The Pope’s Exorcist is based on real-life exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, “the legendary Italian priest who performed over 100,000 exorcisms for the Vatican.”
Russell Crowe is starring as Father Gabriele Amorth, with Deadline reporting today that Alex Essoe (Doctor Sleep) and Daniel Zovatto (It Follows) have also signed on.
Evan Spiliotopoulos wrote the current draft with revisions by Chuck MacLean, based on Michael Petroni-revised original drafts by Chester Hastings and R. Dean McCreary.
Ángel Gómez (Voices) had previously been attached to direct the movie for Screen Gems, who recently acquired the rights to Father Gabriele Amorth’s real-life exorcism tales.
The Exorcist director William Friedkin told Father Gabriele Amorth’s story in the recent documentary The Devil and Father Amorth, which you can find on various VOD outlets.
Father Gabriele Amorth passed away back in 2016 at the age of 91.