The world of the Papacy was once a relatively impenetrable one, but pressures of the modern world has peeled open the doors. And while it won't have the same crazed tone as The Young Pope (or its follow-up series), The Two Popes has the benefit of real-world changes to the institution. With Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce in the lead roles, the first trailer is online.
City Of God's Fernando Meirelles is in the director's chair for this one, working from a script by The Theory Of Everything's Anthony McCarten which chronicles the intimate story of one of the most dramatic transitions of power in the last 2,000 years. Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio (Pryce) requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict (Hopkins). Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church. Behind Vatican walls, a struggle commences between both tradition and progress, guilt and forgiveness, as these two very different men confront elements from their pasts in order to find common ground and forge a future for a billion followers around the world.
Seeing those two share the screen is pretty much a draw right from the start, but the story is also a compelling one. The film will be in UK cinemas from 29 November (its Stateside release is set for two days earlier) and then hits Netflix on 20 December.