Russell Crowe Joins Horror Movie The Pope's Exorcist From Overlord Director

By Jamie Jirak

Back in 2018, Overlord hit theatres and was a hit with critics and audiences alike, earning an 81% critics score and 66% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was helmed by Julius Avery who is returning for another horror film that's set to star Russell Crowe. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Crowe has been cast in The Pope's Exorcist as Father Gabriele Amorth, a real-life priest who acted as the chief exorcist of the Vatican and performed more than 100,000 exorcisms in his lifetime. 

Avery is filming the new thriller for Screen Gems, which will pull from Amorth's two memoirs, An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories. The real Amorth lived to be 91 and passed away in 2016. His books "detailed his experiences battling demons that had clutched people in their evil." The current script was helmed by Evan Spiliotopoulos with revisions by Chuck MacLean. Production is expected to begin in Ireland in September. 

"It's been a goal of mine to work with Russell," Avery said in a statement. "To collaborate with him on the amazing Pope's Exorcist is truly a dream come true."

This is a big time for Crowe, who is about to make his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Thor: Love and Thunder. The Oscar-winning actor is playing the role of Zeus. Last month's trailer release gave fans the first official look at Crowe in the film, and the actor celebrated by changing his profile picture on Twitter.  In a recent interview with Disney (via The Direct), Chris Hemsworth spoke about working with Crowe and praised his performance in Thor: Love and Thunder.  

"I never thought I'd see the day where Russell would appear on screen with hints at Gladiator imagery, yet with a wink-totally self-deprecating. He didn't hold back. I'm such a fan. I have been since I first started acting. There's such a weight and a seriousness to his performances and to him, as an individual, from afar. But meeting him, he has a great sense of humor and did whatever Taika asked on set, which was mind-blowing. And it was really fun to play with the mythology, going from Norse to Greek mythology – Taika pulls all these worlds together," Hemsworth shared. 

Are you excited to see Crowe star in The Pope's Exorcist? Tell us in the comments! 

The Pope's Exorcist does not yet have a release date. Thor: Love and Thunder is scheduled to be released in theatres on July 8th.

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