Lord have mercy! Sky, HBO, and Canal + have unveiled an official first-look photo at Jude Law (CAPTAIN MARVEL, SHERLOCK HOLMES) and John Malkovich (BIRD BOX, BURN AFTER READING) for HBO's THE NEW POPE, the upcoming follow-up series to Paolo Sorrentino's THE YOUNG POPE. In the photo, both Law and Malkovich are sporting papal vestiments, signaling to fans of the original series that Malkovich will play the new pontiff for the religion-centric drama.
Joining Law and Malkovich for THE NEW POPE are returning cast members Silvio Orlando, Javier Cámara, Cécile de France, Ludivine Sagnier, and Maurizio Lombardi, who will help intorduce Henry Goodman, Ulrich Thomsen, Mark Ivanir and Massimo Ghini as the show's newest castmembers. In addition to directing the events of THE NEW POPE, Sorrentino also co-wrote the eight episode arc with Umberto Contarello and Stefano Bises.
You can see the new photo of Law and Malkovich below:
When Sorrentino's THE NEW POPE began in 2016, the anthology-style drama told the story of Lenny Belardo, aka Pius XIII, the first American Pope in history. As the story plays out, we find that Belardo's ascension appears to be the result of a simple, effective media strategy implemented by the College of Cardinals. In the Vatican, however, the prevailing wisdom is the church's leaders have chosen a mysterious figure as their guiding force. And Pius XIII proves to be the most mysterious and contradictory of them all. As Belardo begins his reign, he is stubbornly resistant to the Vatican stewards, instead relying on Sister Mary to serve as his chief adviser. While she urges him to focus on leading his billion followers, the young pope shows little interest in making himself known, either to the College of Cardinals or to the masses. The 10-episode drama series stars Jude Law in the title role and Diane Keaton as Sister Mary, a nun from the U.S. now living in Vatican City. (via Google)
Plot details surrounding THE NEW POPE are scarce at this time, though I would suspect that the next chapter of the series will promptly address the fate of Law's character, who appeared to have perished before the close of the first season. What transpires after that is anyone's guess. With such a strong cast and plenty of threads to unravel, THE NEW POPE promises to bring even more drama before the Lord Almighty and his most devote followers.