When The Young Pope premiered in 2016, it seemed like there were few weirder shows. Then it got a follow-up. Called The New Pope, it brought in (that’s right) a new pope (John Malkovich) to replace the old young pope (Jude Law), who had suffered a coma. Eventually he woke up, and there were two popes. Then there was another, final twist. Where to go next? Is there anywhere to go? You may get to find out.
In an interview with Deadline (in a bit teased out by Yahoo!), producer Lorenzo Mieli — whose credits include both Popes as well as Luca Guadagnino’s new Bones and All — briefly, very briefly mentioned that Paolo Sorrentino, the shows’ creator, wasn’t done with the world of Catholic Church honchos who are into things like smoking and punk rock.
“There is an idea that Paolo has that maybe is going to happen. The third and last,” Mieli revealed.
That’s it! It would be tough to top the first two series, which featured such unexpected incidents as a kangaroo getting murdered in the Vatican gardens and Diane Keaton as a basketball-playing nun. But we’ll be Sorrentino and company have it in them to push the envelope in even weirder directions.
Mieli also talked about the genesis of The Young Pope, and it’s pretty perfect. “He brought me an idea about a pope, an American pope, that smokes cigarettes. That was the pitch, and I said fantastic,” he said. “That seemed to me a very good pitch.” Seriously, what else do you need?