Vatican Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Martin Scorsese has announced that he’s making a new film about Jesus after meeting Pope Francis in Italy.The director, who identifies as Catholic, shared the news on Saturday (May 27) during a conference at the Vatican.“I have responded to the Pope’s appeal to artists in the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus,” Scorsese said (via Variety), adding: “And I’m about to start making it.”Scorsese was in Rome with his wife, Helen Morris, to attend a conference titled The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination, where he briefly met Pope Francis.The director previously tackled the life of Jesus Christ in his 1988 religious epic The Last Temptation Of Christ, where Willem Dafoe played the lead character.

the Cannes premiere of his film “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Martin Scorses met with Pope Francis in Rome, which inspired the acclaimed director to announce plans to make a new feature film about Jesus Christ. “I have responded to the Pope’s appeal to artists in the only way I know how: By imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus, and I’m about to start making it,” Scorsese told reporters at a Vatican press conference, according to The Guardian.If he follows through on these plans, it would be Scorsese’s first film about Jesus since his famously controversial 1988 film “The Last Temptation of Christ,” which starred Willem Dafoe as the son of God as during his ministry and crucifixion, when he’s tempted with a vision of the life he could have had instead of dying for the world’s sins.Along with meeting the Pope, Scorsese was in Rome with his wife, Helen Morris, to attend a conference called “The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination.” The conference was co-organized by Antonio Spadoro, editor of Jesuit publication La Civiltà Cattolica, who posted pictures of the 80-year-old director’s meeting with the pontiff on Twitter.

Fresh from his standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival for his latest film Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese has taken a tour of Italy, including a meeting with Pope Frances in the Vatican, where the Oscar winner also announced his plans to make a film about Jesus. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Martin Scorsese is on a post-Cannes tour of Italy where over the weekend the director, known for having a religious bent, met with Pope Francis and announced that he will make a film about Jesus. “I have responded to the Pope’s appeal to artists in the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus,” Scorsese announced on Saturday during a Rome conference at the Vatican, according to multiple reports. “And I’m about to start making it,” the director added, suggesting that this could be his next film. Also on Saturday, before attending the conference – titled “The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination” – Scorsese and his wife Helen Morris met Pope Francis during a brief private audience at the Vatican.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Revered Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio is returning to Cannes with “Kidnapped,” a drama that reconstructs the true tale of Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy who was kidnapped and forcibly raised as a Christian in 19th century Italy. It’s a story that Steven Spielberg had his eye on, having announced in 2016 that he would make a drama about Mortara for which he began scouting locations in Italy. Last year, Bellocchio was in Cannes with another kidnapping drama, the limited TV series “Exterior Night,” about the abduction and assassination of former Italian premier Aldo Moro by Red Brigades terrorists. The veteran auteur’s first foray in TV has had the rare distinction of playing well in Italian cinemas — in two installments — before airing on RAI and selling globally. Earlier this month it also scored a slew of statuettes, including best director, at Italy’s David Awards, the country’s top film prizes.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for “Fast X” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”, which are now playing in theaters. Louis Leterrier’s “Fast X” drives into movie theaters this weekend, delivering plenty of action and a few surprise cameos. As previously revealed, the film’s credit scenes mark the return of Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs and Gal Gadot’s Gisele. The third cameo is none other than Pete Davidson, who plays Bowie. Davidson’s cameo comes after the “Fast” fam — Dom (Vin Diesel), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Han (Sung Kang), Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) — head to Rome on a mission led by Roman (Tyrese Gibson). Turns out, they’ve been lured into a trap set by Jason Momoa’s badass Dante, who wants revenge on the crew and threatens to get it by blowing up the Vatican.

As well as bagging four Oscars and nine BAFTAs, Edward Berger’s WW1 drama All Quiet on the Western Front cemented its place in pop-culture history by becoming an internet meme. Under ‘how it started’, the meme shows the film’s protagonist, Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer), as a laughing, idealistic new recruit. But then, under ‘how it’s going’, we see the same young soldier, now hollowed out, filthy, and traumatized by the carnage he’s seen.

Elizabeth Taylor’s middle-aged married woman after she has full-body plastic surgery. In Joseph Losey’s The Romantic Englishwoman (1975) he was Glenda Jackson’s paramour, while in Tinto Brass’s X-rated “erotic-war-drama” Salon Kitty (1976), he played a Nazi SS commandant who recruits a group of female SS auxiliaries in order to plant them as prostitutes in a high-class brothel to collect intelligence on patrons of the establishment. After Visconti’s death, Berger’s acting career dwindled to mainly small roles.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor If anyone knows the musical world of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, it’s composer Brian Tyler. Over the years, he’s created themes and cues for Dom (Vin Diesel), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Cipher (Charlize Theron), and with “Fast X” he gets to dabble with Jason Momoa’s brilliant baddie, Dante. “Instead of creating a dark energy theme, I went for alluring,” Tyler says. In the film, Dante seeks to avenge his father’s death, Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) from 2011’s “Fast Five.” Dante lures the Fast Family to Rome, which leads to an action-packed chase through the cobbled streets of the Eternal City as Dom, Letty and their crew attempt to stop Dante from blowing up the Vatican. “Dante is charming and he makes you laugh. So, I used high strings such as the harp, and then we get into bass music with modern instruments,” says Tyler. “It gives you this feeling that you can’t look away. There’s a sense [in his music] of empathizing with him, and why he becomes this villain.”

Måneskin bassist Victoria De Angelis has explained that her home country of Italy is still “very conservative” when it comes to homosexuality, and recalled how she was made to feel “uncomfortable” for dating women.The 23-year-old was speaking in a new interview when she explained how traditional attitudes are still rife within society, and how it impacted her as an openly queer musician.Born in Vatican City, Rome, De Angelis said that her sexuality drew some unwanted attention in her home country, and that residents there would make her feel “uncomfortable” regarding the relationships she had.“I remember when I first started dating girls, I felt people really staring,” she admitted to The Big Issue (via Music-News). “These things can really make you uncomfortable, even if it’s not such a big deal compared to what other people deal with.

(who played the hot douchebag in ) and , the latest pair to provide the grist for the romance rumor mill. The two have been filming a new rom-com, Anyone But You, in Australia and dared to look smiley and relaxed in each other’s company, hence the internet (and myriad mainstream media outlets) have naturally concluded that the pair must be sleeping together.Of course, there’s no way for us to know whether they’re actually romantically involved or not, but that hasn’t stopped people from speculating that this is the reason why Powell has (reportedly) , Gigi Paris, or losing their minds over the fact that Sweeney was (briefly) seen without .

Sailing off to their happily ever after! Below Deck‘s Ben Robinson is engaged to girlfriend Kiara Cabral after more than three years of dating, Us Weekly can exclusively reveal.

Fast X has been released and reveals more about Jason Momoa’s new villainous character, Dante.The trailer kicks off with Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew in Vatican City as they attempt to disarm a rolling bomb set loose in the city by Dante. Flashbacks reveal how Dante got caught up with Toretto, dating back to Fast Five.Dante turns out to be the son of Herman Reyes, the lead antagonist of Fast Five. During the events of Fast Five, Toretto masterminded a heist in Rio De Janeiro to steal from Reyes, killing him.

Fragments of wood believed to be from the cross Jesus was crucified on more than 2,000 years ago will be included in the cross that will lead the coronation service for King Charles III next month at Westminster Abbey.  The two splinters, believed to be from the "true cross," were gifted to the monarch by Pope Francis ahead of his coronation and will form their own cross at the center of the processional cross, according to Reuters.The Church of Wales also noted on its site that the processional cross "will incorporate a relic of the True Cross," and called it a "significant ecumenical gesture."  The processional cross, which is known as the Cross of Wales, was formed from recycled silver bullion, Welsh slate and timber, and gifted to the monarch by the Church of Wales.There are also words from the last sermon of St David on the back in Welsh: "Byddwch lawen. Cadwch y ffydd.

is rolling into theaters soon!The franchise film's new trailer dropped on Wednesday, showing Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) headed back to the past to save his family, returning to Brazil and the infamous bank vault heist.As it turns out, the son of the kingpin whose life and empire was ruined by said heist has spent the last 12 years plotting his revenge. Dante Reyes, played by franchise newcomer Jason Momoa, has an expansive plan to make Dom pay — and he does so by targeting his 8-year-old son, Brian (Leo Abelo Perry).«If you never would have gotten behind that wheel, I'd never be the man I am today,» Dante tells Dom. «And now I am the man who's going to break your family, piece by piece.»The latest trailer gives fans an even closer look at the latest installment, as Dante unleashes a massive bomb on Vatican City, kidnaps Dom's son, and stages a deadly game of chicken that ends with two semis colliding in a fiery explosion on top of a dam.Things are even so dire that former villains Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) and Cypher (Charlize Theron) are on the side of the family this time around, on hand to help «dig some graves.»Directed by Louis Leterrier — who, it was recently announced, will also head up the franchise's 11th and final installment --  stars returning cast members Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris «Ludacris» Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, John Cena, Scott Eastwood, and Helen Mirren.The film also introduces plenty of thrilling new players, including Brie Larson as Tess, a rogue representative from the Agency — and the daughter of Kurt Russell's Mr.

Pope Francis has a gift for King Charles ahead of his coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey on May 6 in London, England.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot points, including the ending for “The Pope’s Exorcist” currently playing in theaters. Director Julius Avery has “only seen parts” of William Friedkin’s classic “The Exorcist.” “I’m not a massive aficionado of exorcist movies,” he tells Variety. Yet despite that, his latest release, “The Pope’s Exorcist,” which is based on Gabriele Amorth’s books “An Exorcist Tells His Story” and “An Exorcist: More Stories,” follows the Vatican’s chief exorcist to Spain. Played by Russell Crowe, Father Amorth teams up with a priest, Father Esquibel (Daniel Zovatto), to investigate a young mother, Julia (Alex Essoe), and her children, who have recently become possessed by a powerful demon.

first week, according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The film, which The Post found “lousy,” has now earned $500 million globally, making it the top-grossing video game adaptation in cinematic history, Variety reported. The horror-thriller “The Pope’s Exorcist,” which tells the petrifying tale of the Vatican’s top exorcist’s investigation into a child’s possession, landed second with $4.3 million after debuting on Tuesday.

Five wide releases hit theaters this weekend, but Illumination and Universal’s Super Mario Bros. Movie will reign supreme with a second weekend, -60% of $58M. Already the plumbers have plunged a running stateside total through nine days of $260M, with $300M+ this weekend in sight.

Jordan Moreau Universal’s latest monster movie, the blood-sucking “Renfield,” is sinking its teeth into the domestic box office with $900,000 from 2,750 theaters in Thursday previews. It expands to 3,375 locations on Friday. This modern take on Dracula won’t be able to drive a stake through the heart of last week’s box office champion, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” The animated, family-friendly video game adaptation will get another high score at the box office this weekend, with an expected $58 million to $66 million in its sophomore outing. “Renfield,” starring Nicolas Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as his lowly servant, is projected to make just $10 million in its opening weekend. Considering the horror-comedy carries a $65 million price tag, it’s not a great start to its run. It will also have to battle the fellow R-rated horror “The Pope’s Exorcist,” which opened to $850,000 in previews and is also on track to earn $10 million this weekend. The upside to the Sony horror movie, starring Russel Crowe as the Vatican’s lead exorcist, is that it only cost the company $18 million.

The new horror film The Pope’s Exorcist is now playing in theaters and it’s likely to get attention from scary movie fans this weekend.

declared of the new movie “The Pope’s Exorcist,” starring Russell Crowe, which hits theaters Friday.The 29-year-old Catholic organization added: “The end result is to instill the conviction that exorcism is an abnormal, monstrous and frightening phenomenon, whose only protagonist is the devil, whose violent reactions can be faced with great difficulty.”There’s more to their ire than Hollywood’s flair for exaggeration. The IAE, it turns out, has a personal beef with the movie.The supernatural horror film takes its inspiration from their late founder, Father Gabriele Amorth (played by Crowe), who held the title of chief exorcist of the Vatican for more than two decades.

It is hard to look at any movie with “Exorcist” in its title and not immediately think of William Friedkin’s eternal 1973 Oscar-winning horror classic that is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Nevertheless there have been dozens of films of various stripes that have tried to conjure their own magic in this sub-genre, but none that have managed to surpass what Friedkin and screenwriter William Peter Blatty did with that brilliant film.

The Pope’s Exorcist has been branded “unreliable splatter” by the International Association of Exorcists (IAE).In the trailer and other promotional material, the movie claims to be “inspired by the actual files of father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican”.“There is actually a real job called the Chief Exorcist in the Vatican,” Crowe explained in the film’s production notes. “Father Gabriele Amorth was a real man who held that office for 36 years, and was involved in tens of thousands of exorcisms.”However, in a statement issues last month, the IAE, which Amorth himself founded in 1990, described the film as “unreliable splatter cinema” (via The Guardian).The statement claimed that the film’s plot, which involves a Vatican conspiracy, raised “unacceptable doubt” as to who “the real enemy is, the devil or ecclesiastical power”.It continued: “The end result is to instil the conviction that exorcism is an abnormal, monstrous, and frightening phenomenon, whose only protagonist is the devil, whose violent reactions can be faced with great difficulty.“This is the exact opposite of what occurs in the context of exorcism celebrated in the Catholic church in obedience to the directives imparted by it.”Amorth was president of the IAE until 2000 and died in 2016.

The King and Queen Consort led the Royal Family to St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle yesterday (Sunday, April 9) for the first Easter Sunday service of the new reign.The couple were joined by the likes of The Prince and Princess of Wales, Princess Beatrice and Zara Tindall at the annual service before they headed back to the castle for lunch. While the day was filled with sweet moments, there was another special anniversary being celebrated as The King and Queen Consort marked their 18th wedding anniversary yesterday.The pair married in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall on April 9, 2005 and affirmed their vows in a religious blessing at St George's Chapel later the same day.

Pope Francis, only a few days after leaving the hospital, is presiding over religious observances during the holiest week in the Roman Catholic faith. As part of Good Friday services today, he took part in a celebration of the Passion of the Lord at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. 

Pope Francis is out of the hospital.

Pope Francis is in the hospital with a respiratory infection. According to multiple reports, Francis was taken to a Rome hospital after complaining of breathing difficulties.In a statement released by the Vatican on Wednesday, it was revealed that Francis is being treated at Gemelli hospital in Rome, and will spend «a few days» there.

With news reports about his ailing health, many people are asking: is the Pope dead?

Pope Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Wednesday amid conflicting reports about his reason for being there, although his condition is reported not to be “worrying”.