In the newest horror film from director Julius Avery (Overlord), The Pope’s Exorcist, Academy Award winner Russell Crowe portrays the actual exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth. A sequel to The Pope’s Exorcist is currently in the early stages of development. The Screen Gems horror film has so far grossed $52 million worldwide.

The Pope’s Exorcist 2 is currently in development and with no more information, we still anticipate Crowe to come back.

The Pope’s Exorcist had the advantage of having a production budget that was supposedly only $18 million. Due to this, the horror film had success and, after only one week of release, started to turn a profit in theaters. The same luck can’t be said about Universal’s Renfield, which reportedly cost $65 million but has only generated $17.9 million so far.

The Pope’s Exorcist by Screen Gems might very well launch a successful franchise, and Father Gabriele Amorth’s illustrious career as a prominent exorcist is full of fascinating stories. The Italian priest is said to have carried out over 100,000 exorcisms for the Vatican, so it goes without saying that the possibilities are endless.

“Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s top exorcist, investigates the possession of a child and unearths a conspiracy the Vatican has tried to keep secret,” according to The Pope’s Exorcist.

As the titular pope, Franco Nero (Django, John Wick: Chapter 2) plays the lead role. Along with Daniel Zovatto (It Follows), Peter DeSouza-Feighoney, Cornell S. John (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald), Laurel Marsden (Ms. Marvel), and Alex Essoe (Doctor Sleep) also star. The demon in the movie is voiced by Ralph Ineson (The Witch, The Green Knight).

Along with Jesus & Mary’s Michael Patrick Kaczmarek, Jeff Katz of Worldwide Katz, and Eddie Siebert of Loyola Productions, Doug Belgrad of 2.0 Entertainment produced the film.

In the recently released documentary The Devil and Father Amorth, which is available on several VOD platforms, The Exorcist filmmaker William Friedkin revealed the story of Father Gabriele Amorth.

At the age of 91, Father Gabriele Amorth passed away back in 2016.