Franco Nero, best known for playing the titular role in the 1966's Django, has been cast as the pope in The Pope’s Exorcist. Nero had previously reprised his role as Django in a small cameo for Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.

The Pope’s Exorcist is directed by Julius Avery, who recently directed Samaritan with Sylvester Stallone in the lead. The film is written by Chester Hastings, R  Dean McCreary, and Evan Spiliotopoulos.

The film revolves around the real-life personality, Father Gabriele Amorth, who is famous for performing more than 1,00,000 exorcisms on behalf of the Vatican. Russel Crowe has been cast to play Father Gabriele in the film. The film also stars Laurel Marsden, Cornell S. John, Alex Essoe, and Daniel Zovatto. 

The film is based on Father Gabriele’s memoirs titled An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories. Screen Gems, who are producing the film, had previously bought the rights to his books along with additional notes where he documented his exorcisms around the world. The film is currently in production and the makers are yet to confirm a release date.