The last time Jonathan Pryce played a religious leader, things ended with a bang – and not in a good way for him, as Game Of Thrones fans will attest. But he's not letting that stop him appear as the current Pope, Francis, in a new Netflix-backed film called The Pope.
And keeping it in the HBO/Sky Atlantic family of people who probably shouldn't be in charge of things, Westworld's Anthony Hopkins is also eyeing a role in the film, entering talks to play Francis' predecessor in the white robes and gold bling, the controversial Pope Benedict XVI, who retired in 2013.
City Of God's Fernando Meirelles is in the director's chair for this one, working from a script by The Theory Of Everything's Anthony McCarten which will chronicle first Benedict's election to the papacy, then his decision to step down, which opened the door for Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentinian who became the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas and the first Pope from outside Europe since the 8th Century. Initially reluctant to take the post, he's since grown to become a well-liked pontiff.
Pryce will be seen in The Man Who Invented Christmas, due out on 1 December and is starring in Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Hopkins will be back as Odin for Thor: Ragnarok, headed our way on 24 October.