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‘The Pope’s Exorcist’: First Look Featurette for Film Starring Russell Crowe

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The upcoming R rated horror film The Pope’s Exorcist stars Academy Award Winner Russell Crowe as Father Gabriele Amorth, who acted as chief exorcist of the Vatican.

The Pope’s Exorcist is directed by Julius Avery, who helmed the underrated horror Overlord (2018). The film will be produced by Sony Screen Gems. The film is based on Amorth’s memoir An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories.

Credit: sONY PICTURES RELEASING

The 90 second featurette shows Russell Crowe discussing his role as Father Gabriele Amorth, giving viewers a brief insight into the man himself and his role in the Vatican. We see some footage from the film showing Crowe as Father Amorth battling with demon possessed innocents.

Who was Father Amorth?

Gabriele Amorth was born in Modena, Italy on 1 May 1925 to a middle-class family. During the second world war, Armorth joined the partisans as a valiant fighter against the occupying forces. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1954 and was appointed an exorcist of the Diocese of Rome in June 1986.

Father Gabriele Amorth was a prominent and respected figure in the Catholic Church, known for his unwavering beliefs in the significance of exorcism. He held the view that demonic possession was a tangible and current threat, and that spiritual origins could be traced in many instances of mental illnesses and addictions. Furthermore, he believed that the Devil was responsible for various global issues such as political unrest and war.

Despite being a polarising figure, Father Amorth was held in high esteem within the Catholic Church. He served as the chief exorcist of the Diocese of Rome for more than 30 years, having personally performed thousands of exorcisms and training other priests in the practice.

Aside from his exorcism work, Father Amorth was an accomplished author with over a dozen books published on demonology and exorcism, including the popular “An Exorcist Tells His Story,” which has been translated into 20 languages. In 1991, he established the International Association of Exorcists, which currently has hundreds of members worldwide.

Father Amorth remained dedicated to his work until his death in 2016, performing exorcisms and advocating for their significance. His controversial views ensured that he remained a contentious figure in the Catholic Church, with some seeing him as a valiant defender of the faith and others deeming him a hazardous extremist.

Amorth, who wrote more than thirty books in Italian, claimed to have performed tens of thousands of exorcisms throughout his life. He died 16 September 2016 (aged 91) in Rome, Italy. He was the subject of a 2017 documentary by Exorcist director William Friedkin called The Devil And Father Amorth.

The Film’s Plot

The film’s story is inspired by the files of Father Gabriele Amorth (Russell Crowe), who acted as the Vatican’s chief exorcist and battles Satan and innocent-possessing demons. The film is a detailed portrait of a priest who performed more than 100,000 exorcisms in his lifetime.

The Cast

Russell Crowe stars as Father Gabriele Amorth. Ralph Ineson (The Witch, The Green Knight) has been cast as the voice of the demon. Franco Nero (Django, Django Unchained, John Wick: Chapter 2, Die Hard 2) is cast as the pope. The film also stars Laurel Marsden (Ms. Marvel), Cornell S. John (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald), Alex Essoe (Doctor Sleep), and Daniel Zovatto (It Follows).

Trailer release?

According to our friends over at Bloody Disgusting, the official trailer for The Pope’s Exorcist will debut today, February 22. 

The UK release date for the film is 7 April 2023.

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‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ Official Trailer: Zombie Hordes Infest Manhattan

Watch the new official trailer for The Walking Dead: Dead City, which follows Maggie and Negan as they head into zombie infested Manhattan.

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Watch the new official trailer for The Walking Dead: Dead City, which follows Maggie and Negan as they head into zombie infested Manhattan.

Following the previous teaser trailer, the official full trailer has now been released for The Walking Dead: Dead City, and things look to get dangerously messy in Manhattan for duo, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

The show’s official synopsis states “Dead City follows Maggie and Negan traveling into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan long ago cut off from the mainland. The crumbling city is filled with the dead and denizens who have made New York City their own world full of anarchy, danger, beauty, and terror.”

What does the Trailer reveal?

A quick preview shows Maggie saying “We gotta find a way outta here”, before it cuts to a horde of zombies in the streets at night, followed by a scene with a totally disgusting mutated walker that appears to have multiple arms.

Once the full trailer begins, Negan is heard asking “so, you want to tell me where the hell we are going”, Maggie replies “Manhattan” as she’s shown piloting a small boat towards the city with Negan and one other person.

We then see an epic birds-eye shot of some Manhattan ruins, with the streets full of decaying cars, and buildings. Then it cuts to Negan who says “Can you at least tell me what the hell you are doing out here”, Maggie tells him “a few weeks back, I got raided” before it cuts to Herschel being kidnapped, Negan replies “They took your kid”.

Cue a thrilling montage of scenes, including one with 1000s of zombies outside a city building. We also see some shots of the new enigmatic leader The Croat, who is responsible for kidnapping Maggie’s son Herschel. It cuts back to Negan who asks Maggie, how he figures in all this and she tells him that he knows the man who took Herschel. Negan is seen smiling asking Maggie “You need me?”. The Croat is also shown telling a woman “Negan is on the island”.

We also see Maggie and Negan meet a new group of survivors, who also appear to be not too keen on The Croat. The duo come face-to-face with members who appear to have some makeshift weapons. The two are told, “you get on the island, you don’t get off”, we then see another epic shot of the zombie horde outside the building with some explosions in the crowd. Negan is seen using a zip-line, landing and then is at Maggie’s throat, suggesting that tensions between the two still exist.

Smart Variants?

Most interesting of all is two of the zombies that feature in the trailer. One appears to consist of multiple walkers, and scuttles along the floor before rising up; the second appears to move quick and leaps down from a ledge on to a rooftop, and the manner in which it leaps forward almost looks like it was doing parkour, and when it lands it steadies itself. So, we may be in for some ‘smart’ zombies, which would really make things interesting. A city as large and populous as Manhattan is sure to have some ‘smart’ variants, and it would make things much more tense for the duo as they try to complete their rescue mission. The first ‘crawler’ could be man made; perhaps The Croat and his crew are creating some dangerous variants of their own.

Cast

Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan reprise their roles as Maggie Greene and Negan Smith. Eli Jorné is the showrunner and Lauren Cohan is also serving as executive producer. Gaius Charles (Friday Night LightsGrey’s Anatomy) is cast as devoted family man Perlie Armstrong and Željko Ivanek (Damages) stars as antagonist The Croat. Maggie’s son Hershel has been recast with Logan Kim (via Comicbook.com). Other new cast members include Jonathan Higginbotham (The Blacklist) as Tommaso, Michael Anthony (The Game) as Luther, and Trey Santiago-Hudson (New Amsterdam) as Jano.

Walking Dead: Dead City is premiering June 18th on AMC and AMC+ and will consist of 6 episodes.

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The Walking Dead: Dead City New Teaser Trailer Shows Maggie and Negan Clash

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Watch the new teaser trailer for The Walking Dead: Dead City, which follows Maggie and Negan as they head into a decaying Manhattan on a recuse mission.

Following the previous teaser trailer, a new one has been released for The Walking Dead: Dead City, and things look to get complicated for arch-rivals turned allies, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

The show’s official synopsis states “Dead City follows Maggie and Negan traveling into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan long ago cut off from the mainland. The crumbling city is filled with the dead and denizens who have made New York City their own world full of anarchy, danger, beauty, and terror.”

The exciting teaser starts off with what looks like Negan with a young girl Ginny (Mahina Napoleon) in tow fleeing along the side of a building, with a blue truck in pursuit. The trailer then cuts to Negan and Maggie about to engage in a fight. Negan is seen swinging a crowbar at Maggie, which she blocks, with the two literally at each other’s throats, Maggie says “Thought you’re better on your feet”, and Negan replies with a grin “good to see you, too”.

In a series of cut scenes, Negan tells Maggie “You don’t trust me. Hell, I wouldn’t trust me either,” and we see a wanted poster held up with the likeness that belongs to the former leader of the Saviours. Negan is heard asking Maggie “so, you want to tell me where the hell we are going”, to which she replies “Manhattan”, as we see a boat approach the zombie infested decaying metropolis at night. Maggie says. “I have a plan”.

Followed by another series of fast cut scenes, showing Maggie and Negan approaching a decaying building, then the duo trapped above on an overhead structure with lots of walkers below reaching up, and another scene with what appears to be an octagon, with walkers ambling around the outside.

It is unclear if the show will feature any ‘smart walkers’, but there was talk of some terrifyingly disgusting walkers in this spin-off, with the new trailer showing a skeletal-looking walker on the attack.

The tone of the trailer suggests that Maggie and Negan still have a complicated relationship, and there will likely be tense moments between the two as old wounds resurface. In the original series, Negan brutally murdered Maggie’s husband, Glenn Rhee, who was also the father of Hershel Rhee, who the duo are heading to Manhattan to rescue. Hershel has been kidnapped by a group of people lead by an enigmatic new character called The Croat (via Comicbook.com).

Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan reprise their roles as Maggie Greene and Negan Smith. Eli Jorné is the showrunner and Lauren Cohan is also serving as executive producer. Gaius Charles (Friday Night LightsGrey’s Anatomy) is cast as devoted family man Perlie Armstrong and Željko Ivanek (Damages) stars as antagonist The Croat. Maggie’s son Hershel has been recast with Logan Kim (via Comicbook.com). Other new cast members include Jonathan Higginbotham (The Blacklist) as Tommaso, Michael Anthony (The Game) as Luther, and Trey Santiago-Hudson (New Amsterdam) as Jano.

Walking Dead: Dead City is premiering June 18th on AMC and AMC+ and will consist of 6 episodes.

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The Witcher Season 3 Trailer: Henry Cavill’s Final Season as Geralt of Rivia

The trailer for The Witcher Season 3 on Netflix has arrived, previewing Henry Cavill’s final season as Geralt of Rivia in the monster slaying saga.

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The trailer for The Witcher Season 3 on Netflix has arrived, previewing Henry Cavill’s final season as Geralt of Rivia in the monster slaying saga.

The Witcher season 3 is coming to Netflix in the summer 2023, in two volumes, Season 3 Volume 1 (episodes 1-5) on Thursday, June 29, and then Season 3 Volume 2 (episodes 6-8) on Thursday, July 27.

Henry Cavill reprises his role in the monster slaying series as Geralt of Rivia for the final time. Anya Chalotra returns as Yennefer of Vengerberg, and Freya Allan as Princess Cirilla of Cintra. Lauren Schmidt Hissrich returns as both the showrunner and executive producer. The directors for season 3 are Stephen Surjik, Loni Peristere, Gandja Monteiro, and Bola Ogun.

The official synopsis for season 3 is:

“As monarchs, mages, and beasts of the Continent compete to capture her, Geralt takes Ciri of Cintra into hiding, determined to protect his newly-reunited family against those who threaten to destroy it. Entrusted with Ciri’s magical training, Yennefer leads them to the protected fortress of Aretuza, where she hopes to discover more about the girl’s untapped powers; instead, they discover they’ve landed in a battlefield of political corruption, dark magic, and treachery. They must fight back, put everything on the line — or risk losing each other forever.”

Filming started in 2022, at an icy lake in northern Italy called Laghi di Fusine. Predjama Castle in Slovenia was the next place filming took place, and then seaside locations in Croatia. Filming then returned to Longcross Studios in England and the countryside in Surrey, and Wales and then Morroco. Production was halted briefly due to a positive COVID-19 test.

Once filming had wrapped, Henry Cavil marked the occasion with a thankful note to cast and crew (via Redanian Intelligence).

“What a season this has been!” he starts. “I just wanted to thank you all for your determination and dedication through a tough shoot. Hopefully you can all get some well deserved rest. Sincerely, and with respect, Henry Cavill.”

Following the shocking announcement by Netflix in October 2022, that Geralt of Rivia will be recast with Liam Hemsworth taking over the role for season 4, Henry Cavill issued a statement.

Cavill made an announcement via his official instagram on October 29th 2022, and as always the gentleman, offered his support to his replacement.

“My journey as Geralt of Rivia has been filled with both monsters and adventures, and alas, I will be laying down my medallion and my swords for Season 4. In my stead, the fantastic Mr Liam Hemsworth will be taking up the mantle of the White Wolf. As with the greatest of literary characters, I pass the torch with reverence for the time spent embodying Geralt and enthusiasm to see Liam’s take on this most fascinating and nuanced of men.

Liam, good sir, this character has such a wonderful depth to him, enjoy diving in and seeing what you can find.”

As to why the show didn’t end with Cavill’s departure, Netflix’s head of U.S. and Canada scripted series Peter Friedlander told Variety in an interview on Dec 14th 2022:

“Henry is an extraordinary Geralt and I think Liam will continue and also be an extraordinary Geralt. There has been a legacy of of amazing, iconic characters where the actors have changed and we’re hugely optimistic about this. We will continue to honour the IP, the fans, the storytelling, all the way through.”

The Witcher Season 3 Volume 1 arrives on Netflix on Thursday, June 29, 2023.

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