First Official Photo For 'The Young Pope' Released

The first official image of the Sky, HBO and Canal+ original co-production, The Young Pope, has been revealed.

The image shows Pope Pius XIII lying on a reclining chair under the Rome sun.

The Young Pope will feature two-time Academy Award nominee Jude Law as Lenny Belardo, Pope Pius XIII, Academy Award-winning female lead Diane Keaton, as well as Silvio Orlando, Scott Shepherd, Cécile de France, Javier Cámara, Ludivine Sagnier, Toni Bertorelli and James Cromwell.

Additional cast members include: Guy Boyd, Andre Gregory, Sebastian Roché, Marcello Romolo, Ignazio Oliva, Vladimir Bibic and Nadie Kammalaweera

Production of the series began recently and all eight episodes will be directed by Paolo Sorrentino, director of the Academy Award-winning film 'The Great Beauty' as well as the upcoming 'Youth'.

Describing the series, director Paolo Sorrentino said: "The clear signs of God's existence. The clear signs of God's absence. How faith can be searched for and lost. The greatness of holiness, so great as to be unbearable when you are fighting temptations and when all you can do is to yield to them.

"The inner struggle between the huge responsibility of the Head of the Catholic Church and the miseries of the simple man that fate (or the Holy Spirit) chose as Pontiff. Finally, how to handle and manipulate power in a state whose dogma and moral imperative is the renunciation of power and selfless love towards one's neighbour. That is what The Young Pope is about."

The series is being produced by Wildside, and co-produced by Haut et Court TV and MEDIAPRO.

The series will be broadcast on Sky Atlantic in Italy, Germany, Austria, the UK and Ireland.

(LM)