'The Pope’s Exorcist': Release Date, Cast, Trailer, and Everything We Know so Far (2024)

The popularity of demonic possession movies like The Exorcist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and The Conjuring proves that we have not been exorcised of our need for a good exorcist movie. This April 14, a new exorcist film enters the canon featuring no less than Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe playing the Vatican’s official chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth.

That The Pope’s Exorcist is a historical horror thriller is one hell of a twist on the age-old demon vs priest premise. The movie is inspired by the case files of Amorth who performed and documented over 100,000 exorcisms in his lifetime. The colorful and controversial priest, who famously starts his exorcisms by thumbing his nose at the devil, was appointed exorcist by no less than the Pope. He even founded the Vatican-approved International Association of Exorcists, a legit organization composed of hundreds of exorcists worldwide.

So compelling is he as a subject that The Exorcist director William Friedkin filmed Amorth in action in the 2017 documentary The Devil and Father Amorth. He is fascinating because he comes across as completely rational, telling The Sunday Telegraph: “You must always go to the doctor before you go to the exorcist” because usually “they are suffering from epilepsy or schizophrenia or other mental problems.” Until he wallops skeptics with claims like this: “We can sort out the phony ones. Almost always, in cases of evil presence, the eyes look completely white….if the pupils are looking up, the demons in possession are scorpions. If looking down, they are serpents."

Amorth died in 2016 at the age of 91 and left behind two memoirs An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories which inspired The Pope’s Exorcist. “It’s a very dark pursuit, and it is faith that gave him a certain level of courage to do the job,” says Crowe of Amorth.

Here's what you need to know about the chilling new film:

Related:New ‘Pope’s Exorcist’ Images Show Russell Crowe Ready to Battle Evil

Is There a Trailer for The Pope’s Exorcist?

The first official trailer for The Pope's Exorcist was released by Sony Pictures on February 22, 2023.

Crowe’s controversial Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, appears before a panel of his peers who question him about the tragic outcome of one of his cases — a woman who leaped to her death before a helpless Amorth. The unflappable exorcist says, "That was not an exorcism." In fact, 98% of his cases aren’t demonic possessions at all and are referred to doctors and psychiatrists. It’s the inexplicable 2% that Amorth calls “evil”.

Besides, Crowe’s Amorth doesn’t answer any panel of peers. He is a direct report to the chief of the Catholic Church. “If you have a problem with me, you talk to my boss, the Pope.” It is the Pope himself who assigns Amorth to a case that will require all his skills as Chief Exorcist. A boy has been possessed by a particularly powerful demon that makes him vomit out a gnarly dead bird in one of the most horrific scenes in the trailer. The demon demands the boy’s loved ones to “Bring me the priest!” And the priest he specifically wants to be summoned is Father Gabriele Amorth.

That demon has an axe to grind and Amorth sets out to find its origin story. “The church has fought against this demon before. The Vatican covered it up. We need to find out why,” Amorth says as he embarks on an Indiana Jones type of excavation that uncovers long-buried church secrets and puts Amorth face to face with the demon, levitating and spewing blood, in danger of getting possessed himself.

A priest had once warned Amorth, “Imagine what could happen if the devil possesses the soul of the Pope’s exorcist? Who will defend you?” To which the indefatigable Amorth says, “My faith does not require defense.”

Spider crawls, twisting heads, hurling bodies, the trailer is on-brand, but it also teases Crowe's trademark deadpan delivery. Told by the demon that he is Amorth's nightmare, the Italian priest quips that his nightmare is France winning the World Cup.

When and Where Will The Pope’s Exorcist Be Released?

The Pope’s Exorcist will be out exclusively in theaters on April 14, 2023. No word yet on when and where the movie will be available for streaming.

Who Is in the Cast of The Pope’s Exorcist?

Russell Crowe who won the Academy Award for his lead role in Gladiator portrays real-life exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s officially designated chief exorcist whose case files inspired the movie. No stranger to religious-themed films, Crowe played Noah in Darren Aronofsky’s bible-inspired film Noah.

Italian legend Franco Nero who appeared in Django and John Wick: Chapter 2 plays the Pope who personally gives Amorth his new assignment: a boy possessed by a more diabolical than usual demon. Ralph Ineson, best known for his roles in The Witch and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, will put his signature baritone voice to use playing the demonic entity that duels with Amorth.

Additional cast members include Laurel Marsden (Ms. Marvel, Survive), Cornell S. John (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald), Alex Essoe (Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Bly Manor), Daniel Zovatto (Don't Breathe, It Follows), and Peter Desouza-Feighoney making his film debut.

Related:First 'Pope's Exorcist' Featurette Introduces Russell Crowe as a Demon Fighting Priest

Who Is in the Crew of The Pope’s Exorcist?

Julius Avery, best known for directing the Nazi-period zombie movie Overlord and the dark superhero film Samaritan, brings his talent for historical world-building to The Pope’s Exorcist.

The film’s screenplay was written by Michael Petroni and Evan Spiliotopoulos (The Unholy) from a screen story by Petroni, R. Dean McCreary, and Chester Hastings. 2.0 Entertainment's Doug Belgrad serves as producer along with Edward J. Siebert, SJ, president of Loyola Productions, Michael Patrick Kaczmarek, and Jeff Katz. The executive producers are Jo Homewood, Sophie Cassidy, and Siebert.

The Sony-owned Screen Gems acquired the rights to Amorth's life story as well as his two autobiographies. Screen Gems' has a history in the horror and horror-adjacent realm and is behind the Resident Evil films, the Underworld franchise, both of the Don't Breathe movies, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and Deliver Us From Evil.

What Is The Pope’s Exorcist About?

According to Sony's news release, The Pope’s Exorcist follows Amorth as he “investigates a young boy’s terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden.”