'The New Pope' Premiere, Updates: Jude Law Will Be Replaced as Pope
"The Young Pope" will be getting a spin-off series where Jude Law will no longer play the role of Lenny Belardo a.k.a. Pope Pius XIII.
Paolo Sorrentino will direct a spin-off series to "The Young Pope," titled "The New Pope," in collaboration with HBO and Sky, along with his co-writer in the original series, Umberto Contarello, reports reveal.
Law, who portrayed the lead role of Pope Lenny Belardo in the original series, will not be reprising his role in "The New Pope." The upcoming spin-off series is said to be told "in the world of the modern papacy," with someone new as the mighty Pope.
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However, the possibility of Lenny Belardo's appearance in "The New Pope" has not yet been ruled out.
"The Young Pope" ended with Lenny having what appears to be a heart attack combined with seizures. In the final moments of the finale, in his unconsciousness, he sees Jesus Christ in the clouds, leaving viewers the cliffhanger of whether the Pope was ever revived or not.
Law shares in an interview with Variety that although he was not expecting to do more scenes as Pope Lenny Belardo, he also did not conclude that there will be no more stories for his character.
"We went in, to make a 10-hour film, and we did that. To say that there wasn't room for more, I'd have been foolhardy. ... But yeah, I didn't go in thinking I'll be doing this for the next 10 years," the actor explains.
Casting for "The New Pope" has not yet begun, since production of the upcoming spin-off series is scheduled for late 2018 in Italy.
Sky Italia chief of content Andrea Scrosati shares in a separate interview with Variety that viewers can expect something different from "The New Pope."
"Just like 'The Young Pope,' Sorrentino is writing the script for the new show, but it will have a different twist than what would be expected."
"The New Pope" is anticipated to premiere in 2019.
