Russell Crowe Confronts Demons in Creepy Trailer for The Pope's Exorcist

Russell Crowe is a Catholic priest who sets out to exorcise child-possessing demons in the trailer for his newest film.

On Wednesday, Sony Pictures Entertainment released the trailer for The Pope's Exorcist, which stars Crowe, 58, as real-life Catholic priest Gabriele Amorth, an official exorcist of the Catholic church who sets out on the Pope's orders to conduct an exorcist and winds up discovering a vast conspiracy involving the Vatican itself.

The trailer showcases Amorth as he sits before a church council in Rome's Vatican City and explains that the vast majority of "exorcisms" he performs largely involve him referring the person involved to "doctors and psychiatrists," before the Pope (Franco Nero) asks him to investigate a situation in which a young boy appears to have been possessed by a demon.

As Amorth conducts his investigation, he discovers a centuries-old conspiracy involving a past experience the Catholic church has had with the same demon.

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Screen Gems

Screen Gems

While the priest grapples with the forces opposing the church, he appears to put himself at risk of possession, leading the same council in Vatican City to wonder what may happen if the Pope's appointed exorcist falls victim to a demon himself.

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The movie, which touts itself as "inspired by the actual files of Father Gabriele Amorth," concerns the priest as he uncovers "a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden" while investigating the young boy's possession, an official synopsis for the film reads.

Screen Gems

The Pope's Exorcist is directed by Julius Avery (Overlord) and written by Michael Petroni (The Book Thief) and Evan Spiliotopolous (Snake Eyes, Beauty and the Beast). The film itself is based on Amorth's books An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories.

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In real life, Amorth, who died in 2016 at age 91, claimed to have performed over 70,000 exorcisms over a three-decade period, according to the National Catholic Register.

Aside from Crowe and Nero, the movie also stars Alex Essoe and Daniel Zovatto.

The Pope's Exorcist releases in theaters April 14.