HBO has finally released the first teaser trailer forThe New Pope, the “Is it a spinoff? Is it season 2? Is it its own thing?” answer to 2016’sThe Young Popedirected byPaolo Sorrentinoand starringJude Lawas bad boy Pope Lenny Belardo.
I hope y’all like to sweat because the teaser trailer forThe New Popeis so steamy and sinfully good you’ll need to wipe that brow by the time it’s finished. All of the focus in the short teaser (it comes in just shy of two minutes) is on Lenny (Law), as he rises from the sea like some bronzed god more suited to a Botticelli painting than an HBO limited series. Lenny strolls casually, smugly, gloriously across the frame, getting lots of stares from bikini-clad women hanging out on a beach. If this is any indicator of what we’re going to get inThe New Popethen I will take it. All of it.
But, true to its title,The New Popeteaser reminds us there’s actually a new guy running the church and he’s played byJohn Malkovich. Shots of Malkovich’s Giovanni Paolo III include him confidently walking out of his private quarters, flanked by cardinals and later sitting down to address them all, closing his eyes for a moment of contemplation. All in all, our boy Giovanni is more serious than the relaxed, beach-going Lenny.
These clashing visions of the Papacy herald what’s to come inThe New Pope. The limited series will ostensibly continue Lenny’s story while also focusing on Giovanni’s ascent as the figurehead of the Christian church. Given that this is a Sorrentino-helmed affair, we should expect as much indulgence and sacrilege as there is drama and intrigue.
The New Popearrives on HBO in 2020. Check out the teaser forThe New Popebelow:
