Summary
- The Pope’s Exorcist 2 will be the first proper sequel of Russell Crowe’s career.
- Russell Crowe did play Zeus in Thor: Ragnarok and his voice was featured in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the director’s cut of a DCEU sequel, but he’s never made a proper return for a sequel to one of his own movies.
- Crowe is expected to return as Father Gabriele Amorth in The Pope’s Exorcist sequel and has hinted at a potential third installment in the future.
The Pope’s Exorcist 2, the upcoming sequel to Russell Crowe’s 2023 horror movie The Pope’s Exorcist, will mark a first in the esteemed actor’s 34-year film career. Starring Crowe in the titular role, The Pope’s Exorcist is based on the true story of Father Gabriele Amorth, a real-life Catholic priest who served as the Pope’s personal exorcist. In The Pope’s Exorcist, Father Amorth’s investigation of a possessed child leads to the discovery of one of the Vatican’s oldest and darkest secrets.
The Pope’s Exorcism
was based on two of Father Amorth’s books:
An Exorcist Tells His Story
(1990) and
An Exorcist: More Stories by Father Gabriele Amorth
(1992).
The Pope’s Exorcist‘s failure to impress critics saddled it with a 50% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, but it was a much bigger hit with audiences, reflected by its 81% score. The Pope’s Exorcist was also a commercial success, grossing $76.9 million worldwide at the box office (via Box Office Mojo). Thanks to its $9.2 million opening weekend in April 2023, a sequel was announced shortly after release. More than a year later, producer Jeff Katz has confirmed The Pope’s Exorcist 2 is officially moving forward, and Crowe’s anticipated return for the sequel will break a career-long streak.
The Pope’s Exorcist Cast & Character Guide
Russell Crowe leads the cast of The Pope’s Exorcist, playing the character Father Gabriele Amorth. But who else is in the cast?
Russell Crowe Has Never Done A Proper Movie Sequel
Crowe Has Never Made A Proper Return In A Sequel To One Of His Own Movies
Throughout his 34 years as an actor, Russell Crowe has never made a proper sequel to one of his own movies. Crowe did play Zeus in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), the direct sequel to Thor Ragnarok (2017) and the fourth installment in the MCU’s Thor sub-franchise (and 17th overall). However, Crowe did not star in Ragnarok or any of the previous Thor movies, thus Love and Thunder was not a sequel to one of his own movies. Rather than returning for a sequel, per se, Crowe merely appeared in a movie that happened to be the sequel to another.
His “appearance” was uncredited, though, and given that the archived audio was only used in the director’s cut
of the sequel in question, it hardly counts as Crowe returning for a sequel to his own movie.
Crowe was also technically featured in Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021), the Snyder Cut of Justice League (2017) that better aligned with the original director’s vision for the DCEU movie. Although he was not originally a part of Justice League, snippets of Crowe’s voice as Jor-El in Man of Steel (2013), the first installment in the DCEU franchise, were used in the Snyder Cut. His “appearance” was uncredited, though, and given that the archived audio was only used in the director’s cut of the sequel in question, it hardly counts as Crowe returning for a sequel to his own movie.
Russell Crowe’s Sequel To $77M Movie Is More Important When Seeing His 10-Year Box Office Trend
The possibility of this Russell Crowe sequel is very important to his career, given his unfortunate box office trends from the past decade.
The Pope’s Exorcist 2 Will Break Russell Crowe’s Sequel Streak
The Upcoming Sequel Will Be A First In Crowe’s Career
Crowe’s no-sequel streak is about to be broken with his expected return as Father Amorth in The Pope’s Exorcist 2. A month before the sequel was confirmed to be in production, Crowe gave an update about the status of The Pope’s Exorcist 2. He explained that the delay had been caused by a change of studio heads at Sony Pictures but that the intention was still for Father Amorth to return to the screen. “We set that character up so that you could take him out and put him into a lot of different circumstances,” he explained.
Crowe’s comments also hint at the possibility of a third installment of The Pope’s Exorcist, which would mark the first film trilogy of his career.
There is certainly no shortage of “circumstances” that The Pope’s Exorcist sequel could draw on, considering just how many exorcisms Father Gabriele Amorth performed in real life. With over 100,000 to choose from, there are plenty of Father Amorth’s real exorcisms that The Pope’s Exorcist 2 can adapt. As Crowe noted, Father Amorth wrote 12 books total, which gives them “more than enough source material to do one or two more of those films.” Crowe’s comments also hint at the possibility of a third installment of The Pope’s Exorcist, which would mark the first film trilogy of his career.
The Pope’s Exorcist
is available to stream on Netflix.
Sources: Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo
