Russell Crowe spent thirty years turning sequels down — he has been approached for The Pope's Exorcist 2 and he's in
The sequel was greenlit in May 2024, and the real Father Amorth left a dozen books to adapt.
Russell Crowe is at it again, talking sequels — which is only slightly odd, given his stated allergy to them over the last few decades. But Hollywood moves on, and so does Crowe: apparently, he's now game to don the cassock and ride a moped as Father Gabriele Amorth for The Pope's Exorcist 2.
If you're thinking, “Hang on, weren't they already teasing a trilogy the first time round?” you're not going mad. The sequel’s been publicly announced, the producers have always fancied a trilogy, and Crowe himself is now admitting he’s been approached to return — which, in the world of studio horror, is about as close to confirmation as you get before the marketing machine kicks in.
The Pope's Exorcist sequel was officially given the go-ahead in May 2024.
Crowe’s U-turn on Sequels
Crowe has spent most of his career dodging sequels (still not a sniff of Gladiator II with him in it, and no, the musical Les Mis doesn't count). He’s explained in various interviews that the decision was personal and a product of the cinematic landscape he grew up in. Sequels then, as he tells it, were almost always inferior — seen as a quick cash grab rather than anything designed with much care.
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In a chat with ScreenRant’s Ash Crossan, Crowe laid out why his stance on sequels has softened these days: some follow-ups now shrug off the ‘lazy retread’ reputation and actually one-up the original. Regarding The Pope’s Exorcist, Crowe acknowledged that Amorth is a character with real mileage, and said there’s still plenty to do with him — given the actual priest wrote a dozen books about his Vatican battles with evil spirits, the well’s hardly dry. The studio wants to capitalise on that, naturally.
The Long Road to a Franchise
The Pope’s Exorcist first landed in 2023, with Julius Avery (of Overlord fame) directing and Crowe bringing a surprising amount of energy to an exorcist film based (loosely, shall we say) on real events. The rights were sorted by Screen Gems, taking in both Father Amorth’s memoirs — An Exorcist Tells His Story, An Exorcist: More Stories — and whatever other documentation they could get their hands on.
At the time, Crowe mentioned (back in 2024) that producers had the nod for not just a single sequel, but a proper trilogy was planned. There was a hiccup after some studio leadership musical chairs, causing the project to "go around in a few circles," but then producer Jeff Katz stuck his head up in May 2024 to tell fans the greenlight had been lit. He even told everyone to “Gas up your Lambretta”—a nod Crowe’s now echoed in interviews.
What’s Next for Amorth?
The original Pope’s Exorcist was hardly subtle about setting up further instalments. With Crowe confirming he’s “been approached” for the sequel, and Amorth’s real-life adventures filling literal volumes, the next film could go just about anywhere. The format barely needs tweaking: drop Crowe in a new country, add demons with a backstory, borrow another anecdote from Amorth’s memoirs, and away we go. There’s no detailed plot or release date just yet, but all the signals from Sony/Screen Gems point to another supernatural jaunt being firmly on the horizon.