The New Pope

The New Pope is a satirical drama television series created and directed by Paolo Sorrentino for Sky Atlantic, HBO and Canal+. It is a continuation of the 2016 series The Young Pope, originally announced as its second season. The nine-episode series stars Jude Law, reprising his role as the fictional Pope Pius XIII, and John Malkovich as the fictional Pope John Paul III, the titular new pope. It was co-produced by European production companies The Apartment Pictures, Wildside, Haut et Court TV and Mediapro.

The series premiered on 10 January 2020 on Sky Atlantic in Italy.

Main

 * Jude Law as Pope Pius XIII (born Lenny Belardo), the comatose pope
 * John Malkovich as Pope John Paul III (born Sir John Brannox), the titular new pope
 * Silvio Orlando as Cardinal Angelo Voiello, Camerlengo and Cardinal Secretary of State / Cardinal Hernández, an opponent to Voiello during the conclave
 * Cécile de France as Sofia Dubois, in charge of marketing for the Holy See
 * Javier Cámara as Cardinal Bernardo Gutiérrez, the advisor of the Holy See
 * Ludivine Sagnier as Ester Aubry, former wife of a member of the Pontifical Swiss Guard
 * Maurizio Lombardi as Cardinal Mario Assente
 * Marcello Romolo as Pope Francis II (born Tommaso Viglietti), the first pope elected during Pius XIII's coma
 * Mark Ivanir as Bauer, the Ambassador of the United States to the Holy See
 * Henry Goodman as Danny, Sir John Brannox's butler
 * Massimo Ghini as Cardinal Spalletta, the Pope's personal secretary
 * Ulrich Thomsen as Doctor Helmer Lindegard

Recurring

 * Ramón García (Ramón García Monteagudo) as Cardinal Aguirre
 * Antonio Petrocelli as Monsignor Luigi Cavallo, Cardinal Voiello's right-hand man
 * Kiruna Stamell as the Abbess of the Monastery of Saint Therese, the head of the cloister nuns
 * Nora Waldstätten as Sister Lisette, a cloister nun whose mother is ill
 * Jessica Piccolo Valerani as Sister Pamela, a nun nursing comatose Pope Pius XIII in Venice
 * Kika Georgiou as the Woman in Red, the head of a constant vigil over comatose Pope Pius XIII in Venice
 * Nadie Kammallaweera as Sister Suree, a nun serving the pope in the Vatican
 * Unknown actor as Girolamo Matera, Voiello's best friend who has a severe disability
 * Massimo Cagnina as Don Mario, a priest who hosts Esther at his church
 * Eco Andriolo Ranzi as Sister Caterina, a young cloister nun who commits fornication with a refugee
 * Agnieszka Jania as Sister Ivanka, a young cloister nun
 * Zaki Bibawi Ayyad as Faisal, a refugee hiding in the Vatican Gardens who later commits fornication with Sister Caterina
 * Tomas Arana as Tomas Altbruck, Sofia's husband
 * Claudio Bigagli as Duilio Guicciardini, the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance
 * Janet Henfrey as Lady Brannox, Sir John's mother
 * Tim Barlow as Lord Brannox, Sir John's father
 * Daria Baykalova as Amber, Bauer's girlfriend
 * Alessandro Riceci as Fabiano, Esther's love interest
 * Enea Barozzi as Attanasio, a young man with physical deformities
 * Lore Stefanek as Attanasio's mother and a wealthy lawyer
 * Alex Esola as Freddy Blakestone, a tennis player and Bernardo's lover
 * Ignazio Oliva as Father Valente, one of the Pope's assistants
 * Marcello Marziali as Don Mimmo, an old friend of Voiello's
 * Giancarlo Fares as Franco, Girolamo's caregiver
 * Daniel Vivian as Domen, the pope's butler
 * J. David Hinze as Leopold Essence
 * Yuliya Snigir as Ewa Novak, Helmer's wife

Flashbacks

 * Charlie Potts and Joshua Smallwood as Adam Brannox, John's twin brother
 * Callum Potts and Matthew Smallwood as young John Brannox
 * Hella Stichlmair as young Lady Brannox, John's mother
 * Jonas Crodack as young Lord Brannox, John's father

Guests

 * Marilyn Manson as himself
 * Sharon Stone as herself
 * Mitchell Mullen as Emory Kitsworth, a journalist
 * Houssem Benali as Ahmed, an acquaintance of Faisal's
 * Alex Beviglia Zampetti as Don Antonio, a teacher at Ventotene's elementary school
 * Bruce McGuire as General Parker

Production
The New Pope production began in Italy in late 2018. Filming took place inside St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City in November 2018. Some scenes were shot in Milan in January and February 2019. The production crew also filmed in Venice in January and April 2019. Most of the filming took place at Cinecittà, in Rome. The crew returned to Rome to film at the St. Peter's Square in March 2019. Additional scenes were shot in Abruzzo and on the river Piave. The opening sequence of the series with dancing nuns was filmed inside San Giorgio Monastery in Venice.

Release
The series had its world premiere on 1 September 2019 at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, where episodes 2 and 7 were screened out of competition. It debuted on television on 10 January 2020 on Sky Atlantic in Italy, on 12 January on Sky Atlantic in the UK and Ireland and on 13 January on HBO and Canal+.

Marketing
The official teaser for the series was released on 28 August 2019. The second teaser trailer premiered on 3 November 2019. The official full trailer was released on 10 December 2019.

Critical reception
The series received positive response from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 90% based on 49 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though its predecessor's shadow looms large, devout fans will still find much to like in The New Pope's exploration of power dynamics and sumptuous strangeness." On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 12 critics, signifying "generally favorable reviews".