By MICHAEL GINGOLD
He’s a real-life figure previously chronicled by William Friedkin.
Sony/Screen Gems releases THE POPE’S EXORCIST exclusively in theaters April 14. Julius Avery directed from a screenplay by Michael Petroni and Evan Spiliotopoulos, from a screen story by Michael Petroni and R. Dean McCreary & Chester Hastings, based on the books AN EXORCIST TELLS HIS STORY and AN EXORCIST: MORE STORIES by Father Gabriele Amorth—the subject of Friedkin’s 2018 documentary THE DEVIL AND FATHER AMORTH. Russell Crowe, Daniel Zovatto (DON’T BREATHE), Alex Essoe (DOCTOR SLEEP) and screen legend Franco Nero star; the synopsis: “Inspired by the actual files of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican [Crowe], 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.”
